cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A compensated spherical reflector antenna using sub-reflectarrays

Spherical reflectors have been used as wide-angle scanning antennas due to the unique geometric properties of the sphere. The inherent spherical aberration, however, causes considerable performance degradation. This article presents a novel sub-reflectarray compensating technique to correct it. A microstrip reflectarray is a planar, inexpensive, passive device with unique capabilities of controlling reflection phases. By exploiting this feasible property, it is employed as an auxiliary phase corrector, and the phase errors caused by spherical aberration are compensated. Two examples, a 35-m spherical reflector antenna at Ka-band and a 1.5-m breadboard spherical reflector, are presented, and simulation results show great performance improvement for both no scan and large scan cases. Because of the difficulty in measuring large reflector antennas at UCLA, it is part of future plan to collaborate with other institutions for the verification of the concept. However, we believe that the simulation results generated in this article should provide acceptable performance prediction of the proposed antenna design. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 577–582, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24088
Serving Clients With Hearing Loss: Best Practices in Mental Health Counseling

This article examines the risk factors and characteristics of clients with hearing loss, including inequitable access to education and mental health care services, financial barriers, communication problems, and societal discrimination. Culturally specific counseling approaches and techniques for mental health counselors serving clients with hearing loss are presented, with a focus on building counselor competency and client employment skills. The use of interpreters in therapeutic settings is also discussed.
Population substructure in Cache County, Utah: the Cache County study.

Background: Population stratification is a key concern for genetic association analyses. In addition, extreme homogeneity of ethnic origins of a population can make it difficult to interpret how genetic associations in that population may translate into other populations. Here we have evaluated the genetic substructure of samples from the Cache County study relative to the HapMap Reference populations and data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Results: Our findings show that the Cache County study is similar in ethnic diversity to the self-reported “Whites” in the ADNI sample and less homogenous than the HapMap CEU population. Conclusions: We conclude that the Cache County study is genetically representative of the general European American population in the USA and is an appropriate population for conducting broadly applicable genetic studies.
Significance of disease extent in high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia excised with negative margins by loop electrosurgical excision procedure

Abstract Approximately 15% of patients with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2-3), treated by the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) will experience a persistence or recurrence of their disease. The full spectrum of pathologic factors that may be predictive of an increased probability of this event remains to be elucidated. In this work, we evaluate the significance of disease extent in a group of patients with CIN 2 to 3 that was completely excised by LEEP (ie, endocervical and ectocervical margins were negative). From 102 patients whose LEEP specimens had negative margins during a 5-year period, at least 1 cytologic follow-up was available in 87 patients (median follow-up, 23 months). For patients with multiple follow-up cytologic samples, the most severe cytologic abnormality was used for the purpose of this analysis (1 sample per patient). Extent of disease was determined semiquantitatively by calculating for every case the proportion of processed slides on which any CIN 2 to 3 could be identified. The 87 cases were classified into 3 groups ( 66%) for ease of statistical comparison (Fisher exact test). There were 10 recurrences of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL) among the 87 patients with follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences between the aforementioned 3 groups regarding the follow-up diagnostic frequencies of HGSIL (10% in the 66% group) and “negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy” (32.25% in the 66% group). If confirmed, our findings suggest that in an LEEP specimen with CIN 2 to 3 that was excised with negative margins, the extent of disease lacks prognostic significance and need not be reported.
Infertility in rabbits induced by feeding Ladino clover.

SummaryFeeding Ladino to female rabbits impaired reproductive performance, infertility being complete when clover was fed both prior to and during gestation periods. Cause is unknown but failure of...
Permittivity of Porous Titanate Dielectrics

Relative permittivities ranging from 12 to 100 were obtained from porous titania. Relative permittivities from 8 to 30 were obtained from porous calcium magnesium titanates. Porosity was introduced as microporosity by partial sintering, as 15 μm diameter spherical pores with porogens, and by fabrication of a microcellular structure with cylindrical pores. The relative permittivity as a function of porosity was compared with effective media models. Permittivity could be fitted to the Bruggeman 1/3 power law over a porosity range from 5% to 78%.
Design and construction of engineered municipal solid waste landfills in Thailand

A research effort to document and evaluate the standard of practice of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill disposal in Thailand was conducted. A survey of 114 MSW disposal sites indicates that over 50% of the sites are considered to be open dumps, although operational improvements are being implemented through the use of soil covers. Ten of 12 engineered MSW landfills located in Thailand, designed by both the public and private sector within the last 4 years, were evaluated for design methods and construction practices. Results indicate that the current practice of engineered MSW landfill design in Thailand is approaching internationally accepted standards. However, there are a number of ways that the current practice of MSW landfill design could be improved, particularly in the development of improved specifications for the construction of compacted clay liners.
Anthropology in Public Health

Anthropology in Public Health. Robert A. Hahn. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. xxii +384 pp.
Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of fatty acid-derived biofuels and chemicals.

As the serious effects of global climate change become apparent and access to fossil fuels becomes more limited, metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists are looking towards greener sources for transportation fuels. In recent years, microbial production of high-energy fuels by economically efficient bioprocesses has emerged as an attractive alternative to the traditional production of transportation fuels. Here, we engineered the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce fatty acid-derived biofuels and chemicals from simple sugars. Specifically, we overexpressed all three fatty acid biosynthesis genes, namely acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1), fatty acid synthase 1 (FAS1) and fatty acid synthase 2 (FAS2), in S. cerevisiae. When coupled to triacylglycerol (TAG) production, the engineered strain accumulated lipid to more than 17% of its dry cell weight, a four-fold improvement over the control strain. Understanding that TAG cannot be used directly as fuels, we also engineered S. cerevisiae to produce drop-in fuels and chemicals. Altering the terminal “converting enzyme” in the engineered strain led to the production of free fatty acids at a titer of approximately 400 mg/L, fatty alcohols at approximately 100 mg/L and fatty acid ethyl esters (biodiesel) at approximately 5 mg/L directly from simple sugars. We envision that our approach will provide a scalable, controllable and economic route to this important class of chemicals.
INHIBITION OF AFLATOXIN PRODUCTION BY CARROT ROOT EXTRACT

The worldwide incidence of aflatoxin contamination of carrot roots is rare. This study was conducted to determine the potential of carrot root to support Aspergillus parasiticus growth and aflatoxin production. Raw carrot tissue did not support the germination of A. parasiticus spores. Autoclaved (121°C, 15 min) carrot tissue supported germination, growth, sporulation, and aflatoxin production by A. parasiticus. There was no measureable difference in water activity before or after autoclaving the carrot tissue. There was an increase in water extractable carbohydrate and protein as a result of autoclaving the carrot tissue. Chloroform extracts of carrot tissue contained a compound that inhibited differentiation and aflatoxin production by A. parasiticus in both synthetic and semisynthetic media. The inhibitor was optimally active within a pH range 3.5—4.0. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the extract at pH 4.5 and at 28°C in minimal salts medium containing 6% glucose and 1.7 × 105A. parasiticus spores was 3.84g equivalent weight of tissue/ml assay medium.
Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

This article is concerned with business strategies of political risk management during the twentieth century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a pharmaceutical and skin care company in Germany. During World War I, the expropriation of its brands and trademarks revealed its vulnerability to political risk. Following the advent of the Nazi regime in 1933, the largely Jewish owned and managed company faced a uniquely challenging combination of home and host country political risk. This article reviews the company’s responses to these adverse circumstances, challenging the prevailing literature that interprets so-called “cloaking” activities as one element of businesses’ cooperation with the Nazis. We also depart from the previous literature in assessing the outcomes of the company’s strategies after 1945 and examine the challenges and costs faced by the company in recovering the ownership of its brands. While the management of distance became much easier over the course of the twentieth century because of communications improvements, this article shows that the management of governments and political risk grew sharply.
Adult age differences in the effects of environmental context on memory performance

In two experiments, we examined the hypotheses that the memory performance of older adults is more dependent than that of younger adults on environmental context, and that the integration of to-be-remembered items with contextual cues benefits older more than younger adults. When younger and older adults were shown simple line drawings that were not explicitly associated with the external environment, there was no effect on recall of a change in environmental context for either age group. However, when subjects heard sentences that connected the simple drawings with environmental cues, an environmental context effect was observed. Both age groups recalled more in the same than in a different environment, and the magnitude of the facilitation effect of the familiar context was equal for younger and older adults. However, the integration of the to-be-remembered items with the context facilitated recall regardless of the context present at retrieval, and this effect was larger for younger adults, suggesting that the younger adults were better able to use the provided integrations than were the older adults.
New sparse adaptive algorithms using partial update

In this paper, we propose two new sparse adaptive filtering algorithms using partial update. By taking advantage of both impulse response sparseness and partial update, we design different criteria to determine which coefficients to be updated in order to improve the performance of typical partial update algorithms. Compared with the normalized least mean square (NLMS), selective partial update NLMS (SPUNLMS) and proportionate NLMS (PNLMS++) algorithm, the proposed partial update sparse NLMS (PSNLMS) algorithms achieve faster convergence speed with even less computational complexity. Simulation results show that they perform well in applications where identification of long sparse impulse responses is needed. Network echo cancellation is a typical example.
Angiographic Embolization for Pelvic Fractures in Older Patients

Hypothesis Old age predicts reliably the presence of pelvic bleeding, requiring angiographic embolization (AE) among blunt trauma patients with major pelvic fractures. Design Four-year prospective observational study (April 1, 1999, to May 31, 2003). Setting Academic level I trauma center practicing AE liberally. Patients Regardless of hemodynamic stability or the absence of a blood transfusion, patients with major pelvic fractures or significant pelvic hematomas on computed tomography were offered pelvic angiography with the intent to embolize. Main Outcome Measure Angiographically confirmed pelvic bleeding, resulting in AE. Results Of 92 patients who underwent pelvic angiography, 55 (60%) had bleeding found on angiography and underwent AE. Patients 60 years and older had a higher likelihood than younger patients to have bleeding identified and to undergo AE (16 [94%] of 17 patients vs 39 [52%] of 75 patients; P Conclusions Among blunt trauma patients with significant pelvic fractures, those 60 years and older have a high likelihood of active retroperitoneal bleeding. Angiographic embolization should be offered liberally to patients in this age group, regardless of presumed hemodynamic stability.
The interaction of castration and photoperiod in the regulation of hypophyseal and serum gonadotropin levels in male golden hamsters.

Luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured in intact and castrate adult male hamsters maintained on photostimulatory (LD 14:10) and nonphotostimulatory (LD 6:18) light:dark cycles to assess the interaction of photic stimuli and gonadal hormones on pituitary gonadotropin release. Immunoreactive serum LH and FSH levels increased 1.6- and 8-fold respectively, within 3 days after photostimulated hamsters were castrated. In contrast, castration failed to alter serum LH concentration and had only a slight, if any, effect on FSH concentration in hamsters exposed to nonstimulatory photoperiods that induced testicular atrophy. In a second experiment, male hamsters previously maintained on LD 14:10 were castrated, transferred with intact animals to LD 6:18, and killed periodically over 60 days. In intact animals, pituitary content and serum levels of LH and FSH declined substantially during exposure to the non-stimulatory LD 6:18 cycle. In castrated animals, serum LH and FSH level...
First Report of Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae Causing Downy Mildew on Spinach in Egypt

Downy mildew, caused by Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae (= P. effusa) is an economically important disease in most areas where spinach is grown. This disease has become increasingly important in intensive production fields for pre-packaged salad mixes where plant densities typically are very high (2). However, little is known about race diversity of the downy mildew pathogen of spinach in smaller (<1 ha) production areas. Small (~0.1 ha) spinach production fields in Fayoum, Egypt, often intercropped with lettuce, were examined in February 2013. Downy mildew was observed in three spinach fields in the Fayoum area. Most of the cultivars being grown were traditional cultivars commonly grown from locally produced open pollinated seed. Disease incidence was relatively low with only about 10% of the plants showing symptoms of infection. Symptoms of downy mildew were observed on the cultivar Meky, and included chlorotic spots with blue-gray sporulation on the underside of the symptomatic leaves. Microscopi...
Calcium and bone mineral metabolism in children with chronic illnesses.

▪ Abstract Increased longevity and improved medical management of children with chronic illnesses has led to a focus on the short- and long-term consequences of these conditions on bone health. Bone loss is influenced by diet, malabsorption, and disease-related imbalances in bone turnover. It may be exacerbated by common medications, especially corticosteroids. Assessment of bone mass and quality, calcium absorption, kinetically derived rates of bone turnover, and biochemical markers of bone turnover have increased our knowledge of the pathophysiology of bone loss in these children as well as provided insights into possible therapeutic interventions. Increased intake of calcium and vitamin D, while useful, is unlikely to prevent or resolve bone loss in many chronically ill children. Emphasis on combination of nutritional interventions with exercise and newer bone-sparing therapies may be necessary.
Assessment of Metallocene Propylene Polymers for Cast Film Applications

The entry of metallocene-based products into polypropylene (pp) cast film is at a stage where their potential in various markets is now being assessed. This study reviews the structural features of some metallocene polymers and reports on resulting potential benefits in cast film applications through their use-and also with their use-in blends with Ziegler-Natta based PP.
Driving β-strands into fibrils.

In this work we study contributions of mainchain and side chain atoms to fibrillization of polyalanine peptides using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. We show that the total number of hydrogen bonds in the system does not change significantly during aggregation. This emerges from a compensatory mechanism where the formation of one interpeptide hydrogen bond requires rupture of two peptide–water bonds, leading to the formation of one extra water–water bond. Since hydrogen bonds are mostly electrostatic in nature, this mechanism implies that electrostatic energies related to these bonds are not minimized during fibril formation. Therefore, hydrogen bonds do not drive fibrillization in all-atom models. Nevertheless, they play an important role in this process since aggregation without the formation of interpeptide hydrogen bonds accounts for a prohibitively large electrostatic penalty (∼9.4 kJ/mol). Our work also highlights the importance of using accurate models to describe chemical bonds since Lenn...
Genotypic differences in nitrate uptake and utilization efficiency in pumpkin hybrids

Abstract The daily and cumulative nitrate (NO3) uptake was monitored over a 14‐day period, including seedling establishment and early vine extension, in four recently released pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Poir.) hybrids ('698’, ‘401’, ‘424’, ‘190') grown in solution culture with nitrogen (N) supplied at either 1.0 or 10.0 mM NO3 (Ns). At the end of the time‐course, plants were harvested and assayed for total N, reduced N, and dry weight in roots, stems, and leaves. In each hybrid, NO3 removal from solution increased curvilinearly as days in the time‐course increased. This pattern was consistent at both 1.0 and 10.0 mM Ns, although the magnitude of solution NO3 depletion differed depending on hybrid, and in each case, increased as Ns rate increased. Total dry matter production was higher in ‘698’, ‘424’, and ‘190’ at 10.0 mM Ns, but was not affected by N supply in ‘401’. Nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE, dry matter produced per unit of plant N) decreased in all hybrids at the high level of Ns. Differenc...
Perspectives on the clinical management of localized prostate cancer.

high‑grade disease undergoing conservative management (observation, immediate or delayed androgen deprivation therapy) were much more likely to die of prostate cancer than another cause. 2 Moving beyond a strategy to treat every prostate gland independent of the inherent disease risk – remarkably close to current practice – improvement in prostate cancer survival will require more effective management of high risk disease. But what, exactly, is high risk disease? Most trace their understanding of risk categories to the work of D’Amico: ‘patients with AJCC stage T2c disease or a PSA level of more than 20 ng ml −1 or a biopsy Gleason score of 8 or more have a risk higher than 50% at 5 years of post‑therapy PSA failure’. 3
Localization and Quantitation of Blood-Retinal Barrier Breakdown in Experimental Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Objective: To determine the contribution of the break-down of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) as measured with magnetic resonance imaging in the development of retinal detachment in an experimental model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Methods: Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate BRB breakdown in an intravitreal cell-injection model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Intravitreal injection of 2.5×105homologous dermal fibroblasts produced specific disruption of the inner, or vascular, BRB. Results: Breakdown of the BRB was greatest in the first 3 days after injection, confirming previous work using fluorescein-based methods. Injection of 1 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide at the time of cell injection significantly reduced both BRB breakdown and the incidence of eventual traction retinal detachment. Eyes that did develop detachment had significantly greater leakage prior to its development than those that did not, regardless of steroid treatment. Conclusions: Quantitation and definitive localization of BRB leakage with magnetic resonance imaging provides a better understanding of the relationship between BRB compromise and the development of retinal detachment in this frequently used model.
Molecular dynamics simulations of ion-induced rearrangement of ultrathin oxide films on silicon

We present three-dimensional images of ion-irradiated ultrathin oxide films on silicon surfaces, generated from molecular dynamics simulations. The surface has the tendency to form oxide islands as the film is sputtered away by 100 eV Ar/sup +/ ions. We also show an image of a "peeling" oxide strand which forms occasionally as a result of ions impacting at an angle of 45/spl deg/ from normal.
Notes and Comments: Learning by Doing and Infant Industry Protection: A Partial Equilibrium Approach

In this review Clemhout and Wan [1], using a general equilibrium analysis, derived the optimal pricing policy for an open two-sector economy where technological change of the learning-by-doing type occurs. This note contains a much simpler approach to the same general topic of infant industry protection when a technological change occurs. It shows an interesting result which is that, in the case where only one sector grows, a partial equilibrium analysis based on the classic concepts of consumers' and producers' surplus will bring about the same type of result as does a general equilibrium analysis.
Distance oracles for stretch less than 2

We present distance oracles for weighted undirected graphs that return distances of stretch less than 2. For the realistic case of sparse graphs, our distance oracles exhibit a smooth three-way trade-off between space, stretch and query time --- a phenomenon that does not occur in dense graphs. In particular, for any positive integer t and for any 1 ≤ α ≤ n, our distance oracle is of size O(m + n2/α) and returns distances of stretch at most (1 + 2/t+1) in time O((αμ)t), where μ = 2m/n is the average degree of the graph. The query time can be further reduced to O((α + μ)t) at the expense of a small additive stretch.
Using Feature Selection in Combination with Ensemble Learning Techniques to Improve Tweet Sentiment Classification Performance

Performing sentiment analysis of tweets by training a classifier is a challenging and complex task, requiring that the classifier can correctly and reliably identify the emotional polarity of a tweet. Poor data quality, due to class imbalance or mislabeled instances, may negatively impact classification performance. Ensemble learning techniques combine multiple models in an attempt to improve classification performance, especially on poor quality or imbalanced data, however, these techniques do not address the concern of high dimensionality present in tweets sentiment data and may require a prohibitive amount of resources to train on high dimensional data. This work addresses these issues by studying bagging and boosting combined with feature selection. These two techniques are denoted as Select-Bagging and Select-Boost, and seek to address both poor data quality and high dimensionality. We compare the performance of Select-Bagging and Select-Boost against feature selection alone. These techniques are tested with four base learners, two datasets and ten feature subset sizes. Our results show that Select-Boost offers the highest performance, is significantly better than using no ensemble technique, and is significantly better than Select-Bagging for most learners on both datasets. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the effects of using ensemble learning in combination with feature selection for the purpose of tweet sentiment classification.
Varicella-Zoster Virus (Herpes Zoster) Infections

Varicella-zoster virus is one of six herpesviruses isolated from humans. The core of a typical herpesvirus contains a linear, double-stranded DNA, whereas the viral capsid is icosadeltahedral and contains 162 capsomeres with a hole running down the long axis (1).
Reprint of : Three-terminal heat engine and refrigerator based on superlattices

Abstract We propose a three-terminal heat engine based on semiconductor superlattices for energy harvesting. The periodicity of the superlattice structure creates an energy miniband, giving an energy window for allowed electron transport. We find that this device delivers a large power, nearly twice than the heat engine based on quantum wells, with a small reduction of efficiency. This engine also works as a refrigerator in a different regime of the system's parameters. The thermoelectric performance of the refrigerator is analyzed, including the cooling power and coefficient of performance in the optimized condition. We also calculate phonon heat current through the system and explore the reduction of phonon heat current compared to the bulk material. The direct phonon heat current is negligible at low temperatures, but dominates over the electronic at room temperature and we discuss ways to reduce it.
Observations on Some Predators of Horse Fly and Deer Fly (Diptera: Tabanidae) Eggs in Louisiana

Literature concerning predation on tabanid eggs by other arthropods is virtually nil. Schwardt (1936) mentioned that the eggs of Tabanus vivax Osten Sacken were preyed upon by beetles, but made no mention of specific predators.
Hepatic alterations in rats fed 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethyl-quinoline, Flectol H.

SummaryFlectol H, a polymer of 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline, when fed to rats produced fatty change frequently localized to the midzonal area of the hepatic lobule. Chronic administration led to alteration of hepatic cells, necrosis, and atypical biliary-duct hyperplasia.
Gas-phase energetics of thorium fluorides and their ions.

Gas-phase thermochemistry for neutral ThFn and cations ThFn+ (n = 1–4) is obtained from large-basis CCSD(T) calculations, with a small-core pseudopotential on thorium. Electronic partition functions are computed with the help of relativistic MRCI calculations. Geometries, vibrational spectra, electronic fine structure, and ion appearance energies are tabulated. These results support the experimental results by Lau, Brittain, and Hildenbrand for the neutral species, except for ThF. The ion thermochemistry is presented here for the first time.
Ponder on advancing in management execution of our enterprise

The article analyzed the influence and performance in management execution shortage in our business enterprise,and inquired into the reason of the execution shortage. Finally, it put forward relevant suggestions and countermeasures. To establish a good management mechanism and the team of management, clear and definite the right and the duty and the behalf of the management layer in order to manage the positive between layer and workers, thus increasing business enterprise management execution, is an important means to make business enterprise strengthen.
Medical Concept Representation

The description of concepts in the biomedical domain spans levels of precision, complexity, implicit knowledge, and breadth of application that makes the knowledge representation problem more challenging than that in virtually any other domain. This chapter reviews some of this breadth in the form of use-cases, and highlights some of the challenges confronted, including variability among the properties of terminologies, classifications, and ontologies. Special challenges arise at the semantic boundary between information and terminology models, which are not resolvable on one side of either boundary. The problems of aggregation are considered, together with the requirement for rule-based logic when mapping information described using detailed terminologies to high-level classifications. Finally, the challenge of semantic interoperability, arguably the goal of all standards efforts, is explored with respect to medical concept representation.
Learning Outcome Measurement in Nurse Participants After Disaster Training

Objective The National Disaster Health Consortium is an interprofessional disaster training program. Using the Hierarchical Learning Framework of Competency Sets in Disaster Medicine and Public Health, this program educates nurses and other professionals to provide competent care and leadership within the interprofessional team. This study examined outcomes of this training. Methods Training consisted of a combination of online and on-site training. Learning outcomes were measured by using the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) pre/post training and participant performance during live functional exercises with the use of rubrics based on Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation principles. Results A total of 64 participants completed the EPIQ before and after training. The mean EPIQ pre-training score of 154 and mean post-training score of 81 (reverse-scored) was found to be statistically significant by paired t-test (P<0.001). Performance was evaluated in the areas of triage, re-triage, surge response, and sheltering. Greater than 90% of the exercise criteria were either met or partially met. Participants successfully achieved overall objectives in all scenarios. Conclusions Disaster response requires nurses and other providers to function in interprofessional teams. Educational projects, like the National Disaster Health Consortium program, offer the potential to address the need for a standardized, interprofessional disaster training curriculum to promote positive outcomes. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 6)
Theoretical Analysis of Arcing Structure in Microwave Owens

AbstractConditions of microwave arcing are studied when a metallic structure is introduced into a microwave oven. The analysis covers arcing in the waveguide and microwave oven. Design equations for prevention of microwave arcing in the oven are introduced.
Incorporating Community Engagement Language into Promotion and Tenure Policies: One University’s Journey

This case study describes the campus context and process for successfully including community engagement language into promotion and tenure policies at Virginia Commonwealth University, a high research, urban public university. The paper also describes barriers our campus faced during the promotion and tenure policy revision process, especially myths that emerged surrounding communityengaged work in the academy. We describe key supports that facilitated a successful process, including the important champions who played roles on our campus.
Beyond the Barriers: Toward a Durable African American-Latino Political Coalition

Since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the influx of Latino immigrants to the United States has led to penetrating change in the nation's social and political landscapes. This essay addresses whether African Americans and Latinos can overcome a political and social environment that tends to differentiate rather than bond the two groups, despite their common experiences. Specifically, the following question is considered: Is it possible for African Americans and Latinos to build a durable political coalition that enhances their capacity to achieve political and policy goals from which they can mutually benefit? In addressing this question, the prospects of an African American-Latino political coalition are weighed in light of the barriers and William Gamson's (1961) theory of coalition formation. I extort the multidisciplinary scholarly research on Latino and African American politics to ascertain the coalitional experiences of the two groups, and to make a projection regarding t...
Development and validation of mitochondria-based functional assays to investigate the mechanism of small-molecule inhibitors of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 (BH3 mimetics) in cell-free systems

A214 Mitochondrial permeabilization is a crucial step leading to apoptotic destruction of cancer cells. Bcl-2 family proteins anchoring to or associated with the outer membrane of mitochondria delicately regulate this step through protein-protein interactions, which makes the mitochondria an ideal model for studying molecules that target the Bcl-2 pro-survival proteins. Purpose: to establish a reliable and specific functional assay using mitochondria isolated from cancer cells to decipher the mode of action of BH3 peptides derived from BH3-only proteins in the Bcl-2 family as well as the small molecular Bcl-2 inhibitors. Materials and Methods: mitochondria isolated from human breast cancer cell lines with distinct expression of Bcl-2 pro-survival proteins were dually protected by adding exogenous recombinant proteins before incubating with different BH3 peptides alone or in combination at 37°C for 1 hour. Smac and cytochrome c were tested on both supernatants and mitochondrial pellets using immunoblotting. Cell-permeable BH3 peptides were used in a cell-based apoptotic assay to further confirm their selective killing in cells with different Bcl-2 pro-survival proteins status. Non-peptide small-molecule inhibitors were also tested in the same conditions. Results and Conclusions: it is the first time using isolated human cancer cell mitochondria to comprehensively evaluate peptides and non-peptide small molecule inhibitors against three different Bcl-2 members (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Mcl-1). Noxa and Bad BH3 peptides exhibit their bona fide antagonistic capability against either Bcl-2/xL or Mcl-1 proteins respectively, whereas Bim BH3 peptide can antagonize all of three anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 members. Bad and Noxa peptides synergize with each other in release of cytochorme c and Smac proteins. These functional assays were then used to characterize our novel small molecule inhibitors of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 for their antagonism and specificity on a functional level.
A Screen for Drugs Showing Specific Co-Resistance or Hyper-Sensitivity Upon the Acquisition of Ara-C Resistance In AML

Abstract Abstract 1844 Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can display de novo or acquired resistance to cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C), a primary component of induction chemotherapy. We hypothesized that the changes required by the cells to become Ara-C resistant might also make them more susceptible to elimination by other drugs. We previously developed two highly resistant murine AML cell lines, B117H and B140H, by introducing increasing concentrations of Ara-C to their parental cell lines, B117P and B140P, respectively. The Ara-C resistant derivatives, B117H and B140H, can tolerate Ara-C concentrations ∼1000X that of their drug sensitive parental cell lines. We previously demonstrated that the down-regulation of deoxycytidine kinase was one mechanism of resistance in the Ara-C resistant B117H and B140H cells, a mechanism that has also been documented in human cases of refractory disease. A high throughput drug screen was conducted to determine if an increase in Ara-C resistance would result in increased sensitivity to other drugs. The screen evaluated 446 FDA approved drugs, which included a variety of drug types, including chemotherapy drugs, analgesics, steroids, antidepressants, immunosuppressives, and antipsychotics. Despite the diverse nature of the parental cell lines and their Ara-C resistant derivatives, two drugs (prednisolone and AM404), showed an increase in sensitivity in both Ara-C resistant cell lines. Follow-up drug assays were performed on both prednisolone and AM404 to establish the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) in all four cell lines. Both Ara-C resistant cell lines displayed a greater than 3-fold reduction in the IC50 of prednisolone as compared to their parental lines, and the IC50 of AM404 demonstrated a greater than 2-fold reduction. Prednisolone has been shown to induce differentiation in murine AML cells in vitro, and high-dose methylprednisolone has been found to induce differentiation in various subtypes of childhood AML. The mechanism of differentiation by prednisolone is theorized to be independent of glucocorticoid receptor binding. We believe this model will be useful in elucidating the role of prednisolone in leukemic differentiation, and in suggesting new mechanisms to target refractory AML cells. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Bayesian truncation errors in chiral effective field theory: Nucleon-nucleon observables

Chiral effective field theory (EFT) predictions are necessarily truncated at some order in the EFT expansion. Bayesian analysis has been proposed as a means to quantify the theoretical uncertainties that are induced by that truncation, in order to provide a robust statistical comparison with experiment. The authors apply a Bayesian model to an extended set of observables calculated for a class of EFT interactions, and demonstrate that a subset of these potentials are consistent with their statistical model for order-by-order convergence.
Modern Vitality: Pure Film and the Cinematic

This chapter connects the use of cinematic tricks, in particular substitution techniques and other single-frame effects, to the development of Japan’s narrative cinema in the 1910s and 1920s. Focusing on the writings of reformers associated with the Pure Film Movement, it correlates these techniques of the interval with the creation of a modern film language, which simultaneously defined the new medium of film as separate from theater and negotiated the uniqueness of the nation and the pull of Westernization. Lee’s presentation of this foundational period in Japanese film history underscores the important role that artifice and technique played in the initial conceptualization of the “cinematic,” which, although strongly influenced by Western film criticism and practice, contributed to an aesthetic system unique to Japanese cinema.
Cardiovascular effects of Hodgkin’s lymphoma: a review of literature

Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) constitutes 0.6% of all the cancers diagnosed worldwide and 10% of all lymphomas. Ten-year survival rate for HL is estimated to be 80% and cardiovascular death is the prevalent cause for a non-malignant death among these HL survivors. We are reviewing the cardiovascular morbidities associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma from the available literature. We performed a systematic review of all articles published from January 1, 1960 to October 1, 2016 on the MEDLINE database using PubMed search engine. Key factors in the diagnosis and management of these conditions are discussed in individual sections.
Improving the value of care for appendectomy through an individual surgeon-specific approach.

Abstract Purpose Standardized care via a unified surgeon preference card for pediatric appendectomy can result in significant cost reduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of cost and outcome feedback to surgeons on value of care in an environment reluctant to adopt a standardized surgeon preference card. Methods Prospective observational study comparing operating room (OR) supply costs and patient outcomes for appendectomy in children with 6-month observation periods both before and after intervention. The intervention was real-time feedback of OR supply cost data to individual surgeons via automated dashboards and monthly reports. Results Two hundred sixteen children underwent laparoscopic appendectomy for non-perforated appendicitis (110 pre-intervention and 106 post-intervention). Median supply cost significantly decreased after intervention: $884 (IQR $705–$1025) to $388 (IQR $182–$776), p Conclusion Approaching value measurement with a surgeon-specific (rather than group-wide) approach can reduce OR supply costs while maintaining excellent clinical outcomes. Level of Evidence Level II.
The History of Psoriasis

Our current understanding of psoriasis has only been established recently in the course of its history. The intent of this article is to take a historical look at the timeline of how psoriasis came...
Exploring Versus Exploiting when Learning User Models for Text Recommendation

The text recommendation task involves delivering sets of documents to users on the basis of user models. These models are improved over time, given feedback on the delivered documents. When selecting documents to recommend, a system faces an instance of the exploration/exploitation tradeoff: whether to deliver documents about which there is little certainty, or those which are known to match the user model learned so far. In this paper, a simulation is constructed to investigate the effects of this tradeoff on the rate of learning user models, and the resulting compositions of the sets of recommended documents, in particular World-Wide Web pages. Document selection strategies are developed which correspond to different points along the tradeoff. Using an exploitative strategy, our results show that simple preference functions can successfully be learned using a vector-space representation of a user model in conjunction with a gradient descent algorithm, but that increasingly complex preference functions lead to a slowing down of the learning process. Exploratory strategies are shown to increase the rate of user model acquisition at the expense of presenting users with suboptimal recommendations; in addition they adapt to user preference changes more rapidly than exploitative strategies. These simulated tests suggest an implementation for a simple control that is exposed to users, allowing them to vary a system‘s document selection behavior depending on individual circumstances.
Development of competitive antagonists of bradykinin.

Development of adequate tools for study of biological phenomena frequently requires long periods of time, and progress in the kallikrein-kinin field has been no exception to this generalization. It is now more than six decades since the original evidence for the kinin system was published by E. K. Frey (1926) and more than 25 years since the structure of bradykinin was elucidated. During these years many investigators have produced increasing amounts of evidence demonstrating the incredible complexity of kinin physiology and pathology and the many interactions of the kinin system with several other physiological regulatory systems. In several cases it has been suggested or inferred that kinins may be involved in a particular physiological process, but without adequate tools to address the problem, these ideas have remained untested. In such complex situations specific, selective inhibitors are essential to elucidation of the mechanisms involved. In the kinin field the only inhibitors available until recently have been kallikrein inhibitors. The most widely used of these, aprotinin, while useful against plasma kallikrein, is not very effective against tissue kallikrein, the more important enzyme in many kinin-related processes.
Examining movement patterns of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, in the Dry Tortugas, Florida

Yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch, 1970), is an important fisheries species in the Florida Keys. In 2008–2009, yellowtail snapper were tagged with acoustic transmitters and tracked through an array of 86 stationary receivers in the Dry Tortugas' network of marine reserves in Florida to determine site fidelity, home range, and temporal patterns of habitat use. Fifteen yellowtail snapper were tracked for 1–427 d [x = 188 (SE 39)]. A multistep method for data validation ensured that only the fish with high-quality detection data were selected for data analyses. Brownian bridge models were used to estimate home range rather than more traditional methods because they incorporate not only detection location, but also time between detections, the path between successive detections, and location error. For a species typically described as transient, six of the tagged yellowtail snapper had high site fidelity [x = 58.4% (SE 8.4%)], and Brownian bridge models estimated relatively small minimum home ranges [x = 5.45 km2 (SE 1.79)]. Movements were highly variable, but analyses showed that fish displayed diel and seasonal trends, and in general, were more likely to be absent during summer months or during dusk and at night. Tagged yellowtail snapper showed a preference for reef edge habitat, swimming in and out of the marine reserve where the boundary intersected this type of habitat. The knowledge that yellowtail snapper is less transient than previously believed and understanding the habitat preference and temporal movements of this species can help with its future management.
Quantitative accuracy of CT numbers: Theoretical analyses and experimental studies

Purpose The CT number accuracy, that is, CT number bias, plays an important role in clinical diagnosis. When strategies to reduce radiation dose are discussed, it is important to make sure that the CT number bias is controlled within an acceptable range. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the dependence of CT number bias on radiation dose level and on image contrast (i.e., the difference in CT number between the ROI and the background) in Computed Tomography (CT). Methods A lesion-background model was introduced to theoretically study how the CT number bias changes with radiation exposure level and with CT number contrast when a simple linear reconstruction algorithm such as filtered backprojection (FBP) is used. The theoretical results were validated with experimental studies using a benchtop CT system equipped with a photon-counting detector (XC-HYDRA FX50, XCounter AB, Sweden) and a clinical diagnostic MDCT scanner (Discovery CT750 HD, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, USA) equipped with an energy-integrating detector. The Catphan phantom (Catphan 600, the Phantom Laboratory, Salem, NY, USA) was scanned at different mAs levels and 50 scans were performed for each mAs. The bias of CT number was evaluated for each combination of mAs and ROIs with different contrast levels. An anthropomorphic phantom (ATOM 10-year-old phantom, Model 706, CIRS Inc. Norfolk, VA, USA) with much more heterogeneous object content was used to test the applicability of the theory to the more general image object cases. Results Both theoretical and experimental studies showed that the CT number bias is inversely proportional to the radiation exposure level yet linearly dependent on the CT number contrast between the lesion and the background, that is, Bias ( μ ^ 1 FBP ) = α mAs ( 1 + β Δ H U ) . Conclusions The quantitative accuracy of CT numbers can be problematic and thus needs some extra attention when radiation dose is reduced. In this work, we showed that the bias of the FBP reconstruction increases as mAs is reduced; both positive and negative bias can be observed depending on the contrast difference between a targeted ROI and its surrounding background tissues.
Exploitation in contemporary societies: An exploratory comparative analysis

• Labor exploitation is a violation of distributive justice and is measured by deviations of wages from productivity.• Labor exploitation persists in varying degrees in most contemporary societies ...