cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sea-finding in marine turtle hatchlings: What is an appropriate exclusion zone to limit disruptive impacts of industrial light at night?

Artificial light is increasingly being recognized as a globally-significant ecological threat, but appropriate management has lagged behind that of other environmental pollutants. Industrial developments associated with the extraction of natural resources generate large amounts of artificial light. Marine turtles are particularly vulnerable to disruption from artificial light, thus effective management of lighting is critical in areas where industrial developments occur close to nesting habitat. Given the complexity of managing lighting in industry, ensuring an adequate lighting exclusion zone between the development and the beach may be the most effective strategy for limiting impacts, yet there appears to have been little focus on clearly delineating a distance which constitutes an ‘adequate’ buffer. Using arena assays, we assessed flatback turtle (Natator depressus) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchling sea-finding ability in response to three standard industrial light sources (high pressure sodium (HPSV), metal halide (MH) and fluorescent white (FW)), positioned at distances of 100, 200, 500 and 800 m. Sea-finding in both species was disrupted by all three light types when lights were positioned 200 m or closer, but not when lights were positioned ≥500 m away. However, when shielding the lights so that light glow, but not the luminaire itself, was visible from the arena, the observed sea-finding disruption was considerably reduced. Given that facilities are typically lit by numerous luminaires, our findings demonstrate that future industrial developments should be separated from nearby nesting beaches by a buffer of at least 1.5 km, as previously theorized, with all installed lighting appropriately shaded. Such measures will help minimize lighting impacts on marine turtles as extractive resource operations continue to encroach on nesting beaches around the world.
Life Cycle Assessment of Natural Gas-Powered Personal Mobility Options

The recent expansion of unconventional natural gas production in the United States has enabled a steady increase of its use in all consumption sectors, including transportation. In this study, the environmental footprints of three natural gas-based personal mobility options are examined from a life cycle perspective: battery electric vehicles (BEVs), compressed natural gas vehicles (CNGVs), and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). The results suggest that natural gas-powered vehicles have the potential to considerably reduce the overall environmental impact associated with driven miles in comparison to conventional petroleum-powered internal combustion engine vehicles (PICVs). BEVs and FCVs in particular offer significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, especially if carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies are implemented at the fuel conversion facilities. It was furthermore determined that the use phase dominates the life cycle impacts of all of the vehicles considered, although the manufacture...
Effect of Torrefaction on Bio-oil Upgrading over HZSM-5. Part 1: Product Yield, Product Quality, and Catalyst Effectiveness for Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Production

A three-step bio-oil production process involving torrefaction pretreatment (at 225, 250, or 275 °C with a 20 min hold time), pyrolysis (at 500 °C with two heating rates), and secondary catalytic processing over HZSM-5 (at 400, 450, or 500 °C) was studied to determine process effects, particularly of torrefaction, on the yield of liquid and aromatic hydrocarbons and the quality of upgraded bio-oil. When bio-oils derived from torrefied biomass were catalytically cracked, average yields (%, w/w of feed) of reactor char (100% reduction), catalyst coke (21.4%), and catalyst tar (8.1%) were significantly reduced relative to the best-case conditions using non-torrefied feedstock. The reduction in coke (%, w/w of feed) as a result of torrefaction was 28.5% relative to the respective control for slow-pyrolysis bio-oil upgrading and 34.9% for fast-pyrolysis bio-oil upgrading. The concentration of aromatic product (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, i.e., BTEX) was highest at 95 g L–1 for upgraded (at 500 ...
Use of portable computers to assess insect populations in advanced integrated pest management programs: alfalfa weevil as an example

A fixed-error probability sequential sampling program was developed based on a 6-stem, 100-m2 sampling method and incorporated into a BASIC program to rapidly assess alfalfa weevil (AW), Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), larva population densities in Kentucky. The program, as written, will run on the Epson HX-20 hand-held computer without modification but will also run on IBM and compatible machines with some changes. The sequential sampling model and computer program were extensively tested by computer simulation and field validation and both performed satisfactorily. The computer (Epson HX-20) and software functioned without incident under a range of environmental conditions.
Interaction behaviors similarity between close friends in blog network

In the social network, the friendship is a kind of key element. With the changing of friendships, the social network evolves over time. And the information propagates widely with the friends interacting. Based on the personal properties and the status in social network, various behaviors are done by users, and the friendships are developed at the same time.As the frequent interaction is one the key character of friendship, it is proposed that the friends interaction behaviors are similar to each other, and the interaction mechanism is of reciprocity. Based on the time series analysis of user behaviors,interaction behaviors similarity computing model is proposed. Using the blog history snapshot data, the publishing, sharing,commenting and wall posting behaviors are evaluated, and then the similarity computing models are tested.
Application of Monte Carlo method in Jixiangtun gas reservoir reserve calculation

This paper expounds the mathematical theory of Monte Carlo method, and the random variable sample method of parameters in the calculation process of gas reserves in conjunction with examples. The calculation method provides a desired value of gas reserve with certain degree of credibility. Especially in the early stage of exploration and development, it can reduces the impact of subjective factors to the maximum extent, and provide objective, reliable and reasonable reserve values.
High-dose cefamandole therapy in obstetric and gynecologic infections

Increased understanding of bacterial infections of the pelvis has led to the frequent administration of double and triple antimicrobial chemotherapy for polymicrobial infections in hospitalized patients. This study evaluated the use of high-dose cefamandole as a single agent in the treatment of obstetric and gynecologic infections. Cefamandole was administered by intravenous infusion of 2 gm every 4 hours or, less often, every 3 hours. Twenty patients were entered into the study, 11 with postpartum endometritis and nine with pelvic inflammatory disease. Seventeen of the 20 patients (85%) were successfully treated; all failures were in the endometritis group. The aerobic organisms and the gram-positive anaerobic organisms isolated from these infections were susceptible in vitro to cefamandole at attainable serum concentrations. The bacteroides isolated were more resistant. The data suggest that high-dose cefamandole therapy is effective as a single agent for the majority of moderate obstetric and gynecologic infections.
General paralysis of the insane: neuropsychiatry's first challenge.

“History,” James Joyce famously wrote, “is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.” Understanding the history of our concepts-a sort of dream-analysis?-is a step toward freeing ourselves from unreflective habits of thought and practice, and thus toward a more scientific profession. Dr. Duffy is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann Medical School and at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA.
Clinical differentiation of abscess from neoplasm in newly diagnosed space-occupying lesions of the liver.

The clinical presentations of liver abscess, hepatoma, and metastatic tumor to the liver may be quite similar, and procedures such as computerized tomography, radionuclide scanning, and ultrasonography of the liver cannot make a specific diagnosis. Therefore, we compared the clinical presentations of 38 patients seen during the last five years with liver abscess (13 patients), hepatoma (eight patients), and undifferentiated carcinoma metastatic to the liver (17 patients). Patients with liver abscess were distinguished from the other two groups by a significantly shorter prodrome, a history of known risk factors for liver abscess, fever, leukocytosis, and a normal-sized liver (P values all less than .1). A finding of three or more of these criteria correctly identified all cases of liver abscess. Only one of the 25 patients with neoplasms had three of the criteria. The presence of multiple or single lesions, abdominal pain, weight loss, or liver function abnormalities did not differ significantly among the three groups. Thus patients with liver abscess can be reliably differentiated from patients with hepatic neoplasms by clinical criteria alone, and appropriate empiric antibiotic therapy can be started while the diagnosis is being confirmed.
Diagnosis of dental caries: a comparison of three radiograph viewing techniques.

Interproximal caries scores for identical surfaces were compared across the three visualization techniques. First, the scores obtained by the naked eye method were compared to the scores obtained using the magnified view box. The second comparison looked at difference in scores between the magnified view box technique and the D.E.T.E.C.T. machine. A third comparison between the naked eye technique scores and the D.E.T.E.C.T machine scores was also made for each of the two operators. The comparison of caries score between the magnified view box and the digital image enhancement D.E.T.E.C.T. machine showed a more homogenous result. More caries was scored by both operators using the digital image enhancement system than with the view box technique. The difference in caries scores between the two techniques assigned for every surface by the two operators were statistically significant (p < 0.05). It is clear from this study that image enhanced interpretations of conventional radiographs is a necessary step to fine-tune the caries diagnosis process.
Laparoscopic versus open inguinal hernia repair in patients with obesity: an American College of Surgeons NSQIP clinical outcomes analysis

The laparoscopic approach to inguinal hernia repair (IHR) has proven beneficial in reducing postoperative pain and facilitating earlier return to normal activity. Except for indications such as recurrent or bilateral inguinal hernias, there remains a paucity of data that specifically identities patient populations that would benefit most from the laparoscopic approach to IHR. Nevertheless, previous experience has shown that obese patients have increased wound morbidity following open surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a laparoscopic versus open surgical approach to IHR on early postoperative morbidity and mortality in the obese population using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database. All IHRs were identified within the NSQIP database from 2005 to 2013. Obesity was defined as a body mass index ≥30 kg/m2. A propensity score matching technique between the laparoscopic and open approaches was used. Association of obesity with postoperative outcomes was investigated using an adjusted and unadjusted model based on clinically important preoperative variables identified by the propensity scoring system. A total of 7346 patients met inclusion criteria; 5573 patients underwent laparoscopic IHR, while 1773 patients underwent open IHR. On univariate analysis, obese patients who underwent laparoscopic IHR were less likely to experience a deep surgical site infection, wound dehiscence, or return to the operating room compared with those who underwent an open IHR. In both the adjusted and unadjusted propensity score models, there was no difference in outcomes between those who underwent laparoscopic versus open IHR. The laparoscopic approach to IHR in obese patients has similar outcomes as an open approach with regard to 30-day wound events. Preoperative risk stratification of obese patients is important to determining the appropriate surgical approach to IHR. Further studies are needed to investigate the long-term effects of the open and laparoscopic approaches to IHR in the obese population.
Use of the Pipeline embolization device for recurrent and residual cerebral aneurysms: a safety and efficacy analysis with short-term follow-up

Objective Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the Pipeline embolization device (PED) when used as second-line treatment for recurrent or residual, pretreated ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms (IAs). Methods Retrospective review of our database to include all patients who were treated with a PED for recurrent or residual IAs following surgical clipping or coiling. We evaluated neurological outcome and angiograms at discharge, 6- and 12-months’ follow-up and assessed intimal hyperplasia at follow-up. Results Twenty-four patients met our inclusion criteria. Most IAs were located in the anterior circulation (n=21). No change of preprocedure modified Rankin Scale score was seen at discharge or at any scheduled follow-up. Complete or near-complete aneurysm occlusion on 6- and 12-month angiograms was seen in 94.4% (17/18 cases) and 93.3% (14/15 cases), respectively. Complete or near-complete occlusion was seen in 100% of previously ruptured and 85.7% (6/7 cases) and 83.3% (5/6 cases) of previously unruptured cases at the 6- and 12-months’ follow-up, respectively. One case of moderate intimal hyperplasia was observed at 6 months and decreased to mild at the 12-months’ follow-up. No difference in device performance was observed among pretreated unruptured or ruptured IAs. Conclusions Treatment of recurrent or residual IAs with a PED after previous coiling or clipping is feasible and safe. There is no difference in device performance between ruptured or unruptured IAs.
Abstract 341: Akt1 Deletion Promotes Survival in a Model of Spontaneous Myocardial Infarction and Atherosclerosis

The role of Akt1 kinase in cardiac dysfunction and atherosclerosis is hotly contested. Many models use transient Akt1 activation or deletion to study its function in cardiac diseases. The effects of Akt1 knockout were tested in mouse models dependent on short-term Western diets to induce atherosclerotic lesions; however, in these models, the complete cascade ending in infarction does not occur. In contrast, the ApoE -/- /SR-BI -/- double knockout (DKO) mouse represents a model of spontaneous myocardial infarction resulting from severe dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis leading to death between 5-7 weeks of age. In DKO mice and humans, dyslipidemia and inflamed arterial occlusions lead to plaque rupture and myocardial infarction. Importantly, Akt1 activation is dramatically elevated in the myocardium and endothelium of DKO vs. WT mice. To assess the role of chronic Akt1 activation in atherosclerosis, we generated ApoE -/- /SR-BI -/- /Akt1 -/- triple knockout (TKO) mice. We found that TKO mice exhibited decreased cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophy resulting in longer lifespan vs. DKO. In addition, TKO mice have diminished endothelial VCAM expression, decreased atherosclerotic lesions in vivo , and reduced foam cell formation in vitro . ROS production, which is regulated by Akt1 signaling and contributes to atherosclerosis during dyslipidemia, was reduced in TKO hearts, plasma, endothelial cells, and macrophages. This led to reduced proatherogenic lipid oxidation product accumulation in TKO vs. DKO. Moreover, Akt1 deletion in TKO mice decreased levels of CD36, the main oxidized lipid receptor, in hearts, on endothelial cells, and on macrophages. Thus, during dyslipidemia, chronic Akt1 activation results in elevated oxidative stress, generation of proatherogenic lipid oxidation products, and expression of CD36 (a known atherothrombotic regulator) resulting in enhanced atherosclerosis and spontaneous myocardial infarction. Inhibition of Akt1 by genetic deletion results in partial rescue of mice leading to decreased atherosclerosis, improved cardiac function, and elongated lifespan. Continued study of chronic Akt1 activation and its effects on atherosclerosis will enable the development of additional targets for heart disease therapeutics.
Impacts of the US dollar (USD) exchange rate on economic growth and the environment in the United States

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of the USD exchange rate on economic growth and the environment in the United States by using a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model. The analysis is based on quarterly country-level data on the real trade weighted US dollar index, petroleum consumption, renewable energy consumption, net imports of pollution intensive products, real GDP and CO2 emissions during the 1989–2015. The result shows that the USD exchange rate is positively related to petroleum consumption, net imports of the United States in pollution intensive industries with major U.S. trading partners, real GDP and CO2 emissions. Moreover, petroleum consumption increases real GDP and domestic CO2 emission levels, while net imports of pollution intensive products decrease real GDP and does not significantly affect CO2 emissions.
Abstract #3651: Transcriptional down-regulation of c-Myc and Bcl-2 via DNA secondary structure stabilization as novel therapy for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 18-22, 2009; Denver, CO Lymphoma is the most common cancer of the blood, with an estimated 74,340 new cases in 2008. Almost 90% of these cases are non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a B-cell malignancy characterized by the bcl2 (t(14:18)) and c-myc (t(8:14)) oncogenic translocation events that result in aberrant transcriptional gene regulation leading to oncogenic addiction. Of important note, both Bcl-2 and c-Myc have unique tandem DNA repeats of polyguanine/polycytosine in their promoter regions, which capable of forming DNA secondary structures, termed G-quadruplex and i-motifs. These are globular entities, analogous to tertiary protein folding, that allow them to be targeted by small molecules; and as transcription factors do not appear to bind to G-quadruplexes, stabilization leads to transcriptional downregulation for most oncogenes. Thus, targeting these oncogenes at the transcriptional level through their DNA secondary structures offers a unique opportunity for treatment and selectivity over normal cells and provides potentially a wide therapeutic window. After an extensive library and homology screen, four compounds (GQC-03-06) have been selected as lead c-Myc and Bcl-2 interactive agents. Circular dichroism studies further confirmed G-quadruplex and i-motif stabilization, with shifts in thermal stability as high as 16C with 1 equivalence of compound (GQC-04). The PCR stop assay was used to examine specificity for the target G-quadruplex, as compared to other oncogenic G-quadruplexes. Compounds GQC-06 and GQC-03 had the highest fidelity, while GQC-04 was a promiscuous G-quadruplex binder. The thiazole orange displacement assay differentiates DNA secondary structure binding from dsDNA binding, and again compounds GQC-06 and GQC-03 demonstrated the better selectivity profile, with a maximal ratio of 7.6. In vitro cytotoxicity in six NHL cell lines, representing three major subtypes, were in the low micromolar (GQC-03, -05, and -06) to nanomolar (GQC-04) range. At these same concentrations dose- and time-dependent downregulation of Bcl-2 and/or c-Myc mRNA and protein was observed, which correlated to significant caspase-3 activation, for all but compound GQC-03. To confirm that the mechanism of cell kill is via DNA secondary structure stabilization, promoter specific effects were examined by chromatin immunoprecipitations for key transcription factors that bind to the G-rich tandem repeats. The compounds identified in this study have high potential to lead to novel and specific compounds target oncogenic addiction in NHL, with great benefits to patient toxicity profiling and survival. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 3651.
Finding Open Educational Resources for Music: OER Commons, MERLOT II, Openstax CNX, and MIT OpenCourseWare

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning objects available under a Creative Commons license at low or no cost. The term came into use in the early 2000s, but the movement began in the late 199...
[1,4-Bis(4-meth­oxy­phen­yl)but-3-yn-2-yl](cyano)­methyl­amine

The title compound, C20H20N2O2, crystallizes in the P21/c space group with one mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. It contains an amine with a cyano substituent and hence is classified as a cyanamide. One terminal CH3 group is disordered over two positions with occupancies of 0.874 (9)/0.126 (9).
Initiation of Cellular Slime Mold Aggregation Viewed as an Instability

The initiation of cellular slime mold aggregation is identified as the onset of a self-organized linear instability of a simplified reaction-diffusion model system for the slime mold amoeba density and the concentration of the extracellular chemical acrasin produced by them to which they are chemotactically attracted. To derive these governing equations a general balance law must be deduced employing the divergence, Stokes, and Green’s theorems which are the subject of a pastoral interlude. The initial conditions are satisfied by means of Fourier integrals, introduced by another pastoral interlude that deduces the relevant formula and in so doing also includes the concept of Laplace transforms. The factors that favor the initiation of such aggregation are predicted by examining the linear instability criterion. The problem considers the equivalent normal-mode linear stability analysis of a slightly more general four-component model system explicitly including the two other dependent variables: Namely, the enzyme acrasinase, a second chemical produced by the amoeba that degrades the acrasin to a product to which they are not chemotactically attracted, and an intermediate complex formed by the interaction of these two chemicals in a reversible equilibrium reaction.
ENHANCEMENT OF WEAK MLC TYPE REACTIONS BY HYDROPHILIC POLYMERS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the enhancement of weak MLC type reactions by hydrophilic polymers. In a study described in the chapter, BALB/c and C57BL/6 thymocytes were cultured for 4 days in Eagle's MEM + 10% FCS, with or without the X-irradiated lymphomas LSTRA and EL-4, respectively. By thymidine incorporation, no stimulation was observed with EL-4 in plain culture while occasionally a very small stimulation was observed with LSTRA. The effect of polyethyleneglycol M.W. 6000 (PEG-6) is much more pronounced. A titration curve of this polymer is shown in the chapter, and at the optimal concentration of 4–5%, PEG-6 causes an increase of 5- to 50-fold in the stimulation index. PEG-6 by itself has little effect on thymocytes in the absence of tumor cells. The above phenomenon can be followed microscopically as demonstrated in the chapter. Aggregates are induced by the polymer regardless of the presence of tumor cells. However, only where both isogenic tumor cells and 4% PEG-6 are present can blast cells be clearly seen.
High-risk drug rashes.

Abstract Objective Provide a brief overview of the clinical presentation, common offending agents, management, prognosis, and mortality of selected six high-risk drug rashes, namely Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), multiple drug hypersensitivity syndrome (MDH), acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), and drug-induced bullous pemphigoid (DIBP). Data sources Review of published literature using PubMed, supplemented with authors' clinical experience. Study selections The most recent clinically relevant literature was chosen, as well as older seminal works. Results Most of the published data on these uncommon rashes was based on small observational series or case reports. SJS and TEN have specific genotypes association with certain drugs, have high morbidity and mortality, and require aggressive management by a team of multiple specialists. DRESS is a severe, prolonged multi-organ reaction, yet has a better prognosis than TEN. MDH is a syndrome of repeated reactions to unrelated drugs, often imposes diagnostic and management difficulties. AGEP consists of generalized sterile small pustules, usually mistaken for infection with subsequent inappropriate treatment. Bullous pemphigoid presents with tense pruritic bullae and characteristic linear basement membrane deposition of IgG and C3; DIBP has much better prognosis than the autoimmune variety. Conclusion In such high-risk drug rashes, early recognition, immediate withdrawal of the suspected drug(s), prompt individualized management, and monitoring vital organs function are mandatory for reducing morbidity and mortality. The lack of reliable tests for identification of the causative agent imposes difficulty, particularly in patients receiving multiple medications.
Feedback Control of a Recombinant Fed-Batch Fermentation Using On-Line HPLC Measurements

Abstract Reliable on-line measurements of state variables in bioprocesses are scarce. It is one of the major stumbling blocks in the development of advanced process control strategies such as process modeling, identification, and optimization in industrial fermentations. In this work, an integrated HPLC system is studied and tested in a real-time feedback control operation. The sampling period of the HPLC system is too large for effective on-line process control of state variables. Other techniques such as Extended Kalman Filters may be combined with the on-line measurements to improve process control.
Correlation and Simple Regression

The methods we have discussed so far allow us to examine whether means of a numeric variable (interval/ratio) vary across two or more groups measured at the nominal level and whether two or more nominal, or possibly ordinal variables, are associated. However, we often want to determine whether two continuous variables are related. In these cases, none of the methods we have covered is appropriate. Instead, we may turn to two alternate methods: the Pearson correlation coefficient and the simple linear regression model. These methods form the basis for the more widely used multiple regression model, which we will discuss in the next chapter.
Birdvox-Full-Night: A Dataset and Benchmark for Avian Flight Call Detection

This article addresses the automatic detection of vocal, nocturnally migrating birds from a network of acoustic sensors. Thus far, owing to the lack of annotated continuous recordings, existing methods had been benchmarked in a binary classification setting (presence vs. absence). Instead, with the aim of comparing them in event detection, we release BirdVox-full-night, a dataset of 62 hours of audio comprising 35402 flight calls of nocturnally migrating birds, as recorded from 6 sensors. We find a large performance gap between energy-based detection functions and data-driven machine listening. The best model is a deep convolutional neural network trained with data augmentation. We correlate recall with the density of flight calls over time and frequency and identify the main causes of false alarm.
Chronic Secondary Headaches

Although the majority of chronic headaches are primary in nature, secondary underpinnings must be first considered to limit morbidity and mortality. Some may develop abruptly, while others will progress gradually over several weeks to months. Perhaps the most common chronic secondary headache in clinical practice is that following injury to the head or neck. Intracranial vascular malformations may cause headaches, and chronic headache may result from prior stroke, venous occlusion, arterial dissection, or intracranial hemorrhage. Giant cell arteritis should be considered in all subjects over age 50 with chronic headaches. Disorders of cerebrospinal fluid pressure such as intracranial hypertension or hypotension often present with chronic head pain. Brain tumors may aggravate an underlying primary headache condition or provoke a new headache profile. A key complaint from those with symptomatic Chiari malformations is headache. Systemic conditions such as hypothyroidism and local disease of the eye, ear, or paranasal sinuses may also cause headaches often in association with other physical examination abnormalities. Imaging of the head and/or neck, typically with MRI, is the most valuable diagnostic tool in the evaluation of secondary causes of chronic headache. Vascular imaging, lumbar puncture, and serum studies (thyroid function tests, ESR, CRP) may be valuable in select circumstances. Management is dictated by the underlying pathology.
Complex Structure of the Carbon Arc Discharge For Nanomaterial Synthesis

A carbon arc discharge for nanomaterial synthesis was comprehensively studied using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques and electrical measurements. Two observed arc plasma regions defined as the arc core and the arc periphery play specific roles in nanomaterial synthesis.
REBT with LGBTQ Clients

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities have witnessed significant progress in recent years in terms of increased visibility, acceptance, protections, and rights. However, in many developed countries, the progress for sexual minorities has outpaced that of transgender communities.
Novelty, Adaptive Capacity, and Resilience

We present a conceptual framework that explores some of the forces creating innovation and novelty in complex systems. Understanding the sources of variability and novelty may help us better understand complex systems. Understanding complex phenomena such as invasions, migration, and nomadism may provide insight into the structure of ecosystems and other complex systems, and aid our attempts to cope with and mitigate these phenomena, in the case of invasions, and better understand and or predict them. Our model is broadly applicable to ecological theory, including community ecology, resilience, restoration, and policy. Characterizing the link between landscape change and the composition of species communities may help policymakers in their decision-making processes. Understanding how variability is related to system structure, and how that generates novelty, may help us understand how resilience is generated. We suggest that there are three primary opportunities for the generation of novelty into complex systems. These sources of novelty are inherent in the cross-scale structure of complex systems, and are critical for creating adaptive capacity. Novelty originates from the inherent variability present in cross scale structures, within scale reorganization associated with adaptive cycles, and whole-scale transformations resulting from regime shifts. Although speculative, our ideas are grounded in research and observation, and they may provide insight into the evolution of complex systems.
Procedure for Horizontal Transfer of Patient-Derived Xenograft Tumors to Eliminate Corynebacterium bovis.

Human patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors, propagated in immunodeficient mice, are rapidly growing in use as a model for cancer research. Horizontal transfer between mice, without in vitro cell culture, allows these tumors to retain many of their unique characteristics from their individual patient of origin. However, the immunodeficient mouse strains used to grow these tumors are susceptible to numerous opportunistic pathogens, including Corynebacterium bovis. At our institution, 2 in vivo tumor banks of PDX tumors had been maintained within nude mouse colonies enzootically infected with C. bovis. Elimination of C. bovis from these colonies required the aseptic harvest and horizontal transfer of tumor tissue between infected and naive recipient mice without cross-contamination. Out of necessity, we developed a standard operating procedure using enhancements to traditional aseptic surgical technique with concurrent application of both procedural and physical barriers to prevent C. bovis transmission. By using these methods, all 61 unique PDX tumor models were successfully harvested from C. bovis-infected mice and transferred into recipient mice without transmission of infection. Our data demonstrate that, in situations where C. bovis-free colonies can be established and maintained, this procedure can successfully be used to eliminate C. bovis from an in vivo tumor bank of valuable PDX tumors.
Transforming with partner patients a program of preparation for bariatric surgery

Introduction: The current collective preparation program for obesity surgery is performed by an interdisciplinary team over four non-consecutive days. In order to optimize the delays of the program and to improve the educational offer a temporal condensation of this service in the proximity of the intervention was decided. The objective of this study is to describe the creation process of the new obesity surgery preparation program based on the needs of partner patients. Materials and methods: We conducted semi-structured focus groups with 50 patients over 3 successive stages of the surgical journey: at the beginning and end of the collective preparation and then 2 to 14 months after the surgery. The analysis crosses by theme the needs identified. Results and discussion: Our study allowed to authenticate a central need of sharing with witnesses, a need for information (medical, dietary, behavioral), and a need for longer-term projection (transformations, investment axes to support weight loss). Conclusion: The preparatory needs identified by the partner patients served as a guide for the transformation of the existing program. This experiment paves the way for a partnership with patients established and recognized by the institution of care in the evaluation process of this program.
Physiology predicts ideology. Or does it? The current state of political psychophysiology research

Political scientists are increasingly adopting psychophysiological research modalities to investigate the biomarkers of political attitudes and behavior. A good deal of this research focuses on the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This makes a good deal of sense as psychophysiologists have long associated the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) with the sorts of implicit emotional-cognitive processing theorized to underpin a range of political attitudes. This review assesses the literature examining the relationship between political attitudes and individual-level variation in SNS activation, especially in response to disgust/threat stimuli where non-physiological research provides the basis for a strong a priori hypothesis for the existence of such a relationship. The empirical record for this relationship proves to be mixed, with a number of studies supporting the base theoretical expectations, but failed replications and questions about what is actually being measured also raising questions about the generalizability of the findings.
The alteration of immune cells in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Abstract The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increases rapidly in recent decades. NAFLD has become a major public health problem in China and the whole world, and it is considered as the main cause for the chronic liver diseases. However, there is still not specific and effective treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the advanced form of NAFLD. The inflammation in the liver is the hallmark of NASH. Actually, the dysregulation of immune cells happened in the early stage of NAFLD. Targeting immune cells in the liver may represent one of the effective ways for NASH treatment. A better understanding of the change of immune cells in the pathogenesis of NAFLD will be very helpful for developing new treatments for NAFLD and NASH. Here we summarized how the immune cells were affected in different stages of NAFLD and how these immune cells contributed to the development of NAFLD.
Power Delivery Decoupling Scheme for EMIB Packages

The embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) is a novel packaging technology that can provide high density interconnects between heterogeneous dies on a single package by embedding a small silicon bridge in the package substrate. This paper investigates the power delivery decoupling schemes for EMIB package for IO to IO communication interfaces, and also compared with EMIB packages for HBM application. The difference between the power delivery decoupling schemes for IO to IO communication interfaces and HBM application has been studied in this paper. A novel approach to implement MIM capacitors in the embedded bridge die which can significantly increase the decoupling capacitance is also proposed.
Why Stakeholder Engagement Matters

Understanding and addressing stakeholder expectations is essential to the success and survival of any contemporary organization. This chapter considers the importance of meeting and ideally exceeding stakeholder expectations with respect to corporate social responsibility. The concept of organizational stakeholders is introduced, as is the stakeholder analysis process that serves to identify an organization’s stakeholder groups and the expectations that each group has for the organization. While meeting all realistic stakeholder expectations is important, ideally an organization will be able to exceed these expectations. A brief overview of corporate social responsibility designed to provide the context for considering why stakeholder engagement matters is provided. The importance of balancing the often conflicting expectations of various stakeholder groups is discussed. This includes aligning an organization’s corporate social responsibility initiatives with such traditional business goals and stakeholder expectations as generating desired profits and return on investment. The importance of corporate social responsibility from a business perspective is discussed, as is an organization’s responsibility to engage relevant stakeholders in its corporate social responsibility programs and activities. The chapter concludes with consideration of how an organization can engage stakeholders and gain their commitment to its corporate social responsibility initiatives, and how these initiatives can align with their expectations for the organization. The essential importance of communication strategies is emphasized as the foundation of a successful stakeholder engagement plan.
Influences on Parent Perceptions of an Alternate Assessment for Students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities.

The purpose of this investigation was to understand the variables that influence parents' perceptions of the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment (WAA). Parents and teachers of elementary and secondary students with severe cognitive disabilities (n = 77) from across Wisconsin participated. Teachers submitted case materials that included a copy of the students' WAA rating scale and current IEP; brief teacher and parent surveys regarding their perceptions of the WAA; and a curricular access questionnaire that documented which WAA items were part of the student's curriculum during the current or previous school year. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between predictor variables and parents' perceptions as reported on the teacher survey. The results indicated that student age and the percentage of academic-focused IEP goals each accounted for the small amount of the variation in parents' perceptions of the WAA. These results are discussed in the context of consequen...
Adaptive Operator Selection for Optimization

Evolutionary Algorithms have demonstrated their ability to address a wide range of optimization problems; but their performance relies on tuning a few parameters, depending on the problem at hand. During this thesis work, we have focused on the development of tools to automatically set some of these parameters, using machine learning techniques. More specifically, we have worked on the following sub-problem: given a number of available variation operators, it consists in selecting which is the best operator to be applied at each moment of the search, based on how the operators have performed up to the given time instant of the current search/optimization process. This approach is applied online, i.e., while solving the problem, using only the history of the current run to evaluate and decide between the operators; this paradigm is commonly referred to as Adaptive Operator Selection (AOS). To do AOS, we need two components: a Credit Assignment scheme, that defines how to reward the operators based on their impact in the search process, and an Operator Selection mechanism that, based on the rewards received, decides which is the best operator to be applied next. The contributions of this thesis, in summary, lie in the proposal and analysis of schemes to solve the AOS problem based on the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) paradigm; we have proposed different techniques, in order to enable a MAB algorithm to efficiently cope with the dynamics of evolution and with the very different characteristics of the problems to be tackled. The latest one, referred to as AUC-MAB, is able to efficiently control the application of operators, while being robust with respect to its own parameters.
Alteration of grey matter volume is associated with pain and quality of life in children with sickle cell disease.

Pain is the most common symptom experienced by patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and is associated with poor quality of life. We investigated the association between grey matter volume (GMV) and the frequency of pain crises in the preceding 12 months and SCD-specific quality of life (QOL) assessed by the PedsQLTM SCD module in 38 pediatric patients with SCD. Using voxel-based morphometry methodology, high-resolution T1 structural scans were preprocessed using SPM and further analyzed in SPSS. The whole brain multiple regression analysis identified that perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) GMV was negatively associated with the frequency of pain crises (r = -0.656, P = 0.003). A two-group t-test analysis showed that the subgroup having pain crisis/crises in the past year also showed significantly lower GMV at left supratemporal gyrus than the group without any pain crisis (p=0.024). The further 21 pain-related regions of interest (ROI) analyses identified a negative correlation between pregenual ACC (r = -0.551, P = 0.001), subgenual ACC (r = -0.540, P = 0.001) and the frequency of pain crises. Additionally, the subgroup with poorer QOL displayed significantly reduced GMV in the parahippocampus (left: P = 0.047; right: P = 0.024). The correlations between the cerebral structural alterations and the accentuated pain experience and QOL suggests a possible role of central mechanisms in SCD pain.
A Theory-Based Approach for Identifying Nurse and Team Member Contributions in the Electronic Health Record.

INTRODUCTION: Team-based care delivered by an interprofessional team has been shown to be an effective strategy for caring for diverse, complex patient populations. Interprofessional teams can improve outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance the patient experience through patient-centered care. Nurses are essential members of healthcare teams within and across settings. BACKGROUND: It is imperative for practicing nurses, educators, and researchers to be able to identify and report the contributions of nurses to team performance and care outcomes to prepare students for high-performance teamwork to improve practice and influence healthcare policy. Currently, the work of many nurses and other team members is not discoverable in electronic health records. Methods used to identify all members of the healthcare team may not be aligned with theories and definitions of teamwork embedded in emerging nursing and interprofessional accreditation guidelines. PURPOSE: This paper describes a promising new, theoretically grounded approach to identify team members, including nurses, in electronic health records. METHODS: Using operational constructs from a common team definition, grounded in theory, primary care teams were data mined from EHR data to find the hidden members of the team. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Further testing and use of this approach have the potential to provide a robust strategy to identify and distinguish each team member's contributions to clinical outcomes while laying the foundation for a meaningful study of teams in large data sets like the electronic health record. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: New strategies to study nursing and team member contributions utilizing EHR data may lead to improved clinical outcomes. A better understanding of how teams are structured may enhance the understanding of each team member's contribution to outcomes and lead to more equitable recognition and reimbursement for all team members.
Selection and use of wear tests for coatings

The selection and use of wear tests for coatings are discussed. Coated materials are vastly different and more complicated than uncoated or monolithic materials. It is therefore necessary to characterize the coating and the coating/substrate interface in terms of physicochemical and mechanical properties. Wear is a multifaceted phenomena. Various tests used to study the wear properties of coatings are described. They include tests for adhesive wear, abrasive wear, impact erosion wear, and fatigue wear.
Notes on the Biology of an Adult Female Chimaera cubana Captured Off St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

C, 5.7 mg/l and 36.5, respec-tively. An incision was made through the abdominal muscu-lature and the gastrointestinal and reproductive organs were excised. Fresh material was used for all examinations and pho-tographs. The specimen was frozen after inspection, and later deposited in the museum at the University of Southern Mis-sissippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (accession number GCRL 36376). Anatomical terms used in descriptions follow Dean (1906), Wourms (1977) and Jones et al. (2005).
High Resolution Sonar Waveform Synthesis

The problem described in this chapter was presented by Craig Poling from Honeywell on January 29, 1988.
THE BELLWETHER EWE: Recent Developments in Ethnographic Filmmaking and the Aesthetics of Anthropological Inquiry

This article explores what might be called the “aesthetic” turn in ethnographic filmmaking. It seeks to move beyond the old debates about the legitimacy of nonliterary forms to offer a detailed examination of how selected camera, sound, and editing techniques are used to constitute a distinctive kind of anthropological inquiry. No longer approached as illustrative or preliminary to anthropology proper, recent trends in ethnographic filmmaking are suggestive as to the articulation of a new agenda. At its center are questions about art, the senses, knowledge, and the possibilities of a multispecies ethnography.