cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Family experience with intensive care unit care: association of self-reported family conferences and family satisfaction.

Abstract Purpose A family conference is recommended as a best practice to improve communication in the intensive care unit (ICU), but this can be challenging given the setting. This study examined whether family members who reported that a family conference occurred had higher satisfaction than those who did not report that a conference was held. Materials and Methods The study used a retrospective data analysis of family satisfaction based on family member's responses to a questionnaire. Families of all the patients admitted to ICUs of 2 quaternary hospitals in an integrated health system were surveyed. Results The families of 457 patients who matched the inclusion and exclusion criteria were surveyed with a 55.6% response rate. Family satisfaction with decision making was significantly higher (83.6 vs 78.2, P = .0211) for families who reported that family conferences occurred. No significant difference in the satisfaction with care and overall satisfaction scores was found (84.2 vs 80.0, P = .10). Patients whose families reported a family conference were older and had higher mortality. Conclusion This study confirms that families who report attending family conferences are more satisfied with decision making in the ICU. This study highlights the need to increase communication in ICUs.
Cellular processing and satistical mechanics

A general model of multiprocessing and multiprocessor systems is given in terms of random fields and statistical mechanics. This model is called cellular processing which is a special application of cellular automata of von Neumann and Ulam. Cellular processing includes several well-known topics, such as image processing, VLSI optimization, and artificial intelligence.
Mutations Targeted to a Predicted Helix in the Extreme Carboxyl-terminal Region of the Human Estrogen Receptor-α Alter Its Response to Estradiol and 4-Hydroxytamoxifen

Abstract The human estrogen receptor-α, a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is a ligand-regulated transcriptional modulator. Because comparatively little is known about the extreme carboxyl-terminal region of the estrogen receptor (F domain), we used secondary structure prediction to design mutations that delete the F domain (S554stop), disrupt a possible turn (G556L/G557L), and alter a predicted helix (S559A/E562A, Q565P), and we evaluated the effects of these mutations on hormone binding and transcription activation in response to estradiol and the mixed agonist/antagonist 4-hydroxytamoxifen. Mutations that deleted the F domain (S554stop) or targeted the predicted helix (S559A/E562A, Q565P) greatly reduced or eliminated the agonist activity of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. Deleting the F domain increased the affinity of the receptor for estradiol and decreased the antagonist activity of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. The Q565P mutant exhibited a non-cooperative hormone-binding mechanism, as well as an impaired response to estradiol and increased antagonist activity of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. Our results show that mutations in the F domain alter not only the response to estradiol, the affinity for hormone, and the interaction between receptor subunits but can uncouple the agonist and antagonist activities of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. These results suggest that the F domain modulates the activity of the estrogen receptor-α by multiple mechanisms.
Directing Crowd Simulations Using Navigation Fields

We present a novel approach to direct and control virtual crowds using navigation fields. Our method guides one or more agents toward desired goals based on guidance fields. The system allows the user to specify these fields by either sketching paths directly in the scene via an intuitive authoring interface or by importing motion flow fields extracted from crowd video footage. We propose a novel formulation to blend input guidance fields to create singularity-free, goal-directed navigation fields. Our method can be easily combined with the most current local collision avoidance methods and we use two such methods as examples to highlight the potential of our approach. We illustrate its performance on several simulation scenarios.
Nozick on Sen: A misunderstanding

This discussion examines Robert Nozick's claim inAnarchy, State, and Utopia (New York 1974) that his entitlement theory of justice avoids the paradox of collective choice shown by A. K. Sen inCollective Choice and Social Welfare (San Francisco 1970). Nozick argues his system is a stable principle of distributive justice. The author shows Nozick's principle of justice in transfer qualifies as a social decision function in Sen's sense because it is a collective choice rule and meets necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a choice function. Next the author demonstrates Nozick's principle of justice in transfer requkes Sen's conditions of unrestricted domain, the Pareto principle, and ‘liberalism’ which are the conditions of the Sen paradox Nozick claims to avoid. Thus, Nozick's principle of justice in transfer is shown not to be a stable principle of distributive justice.
From "nobody cares" to "way to go!": A Design Framework for Social Sharing in Personal Informatics

Many research applications and popular commercial applications include features for sharing personally collected data with others in social awareness streams. Prior work has identified several barriers to use as well as discrepancies between designer goals and how these features are used in practice. We develop a framework for designing and evaluating these features based on an extensive review of prior literature. We demonstrate the value of this framework by analyzing physical activity sharing on Twitter, coding 4,771 tweets and their responses and gathering 444 reactions from 97 potential tweet recipients, learning that specific user-generated content leads to more responses and is better received by the post audience. We conclude by extending our findings to other sharing problems and discussing the value of our design framework.
Writing with Style: Venue Classification

As early as the late nineteenth century, scientists began research in author attribution, mostly by identifying the writing styles of authors. Following research over centuries has repeatedly demonstrated that people tend to have distinguishable writing styles. Today we not only have more authors, but we also have all different kinds of publications: journals, conferences, workshops, etc., covering different topics and requiring different writing formats. In spite of successful research in author attribution, no work has been carried out to find out whether publication venues are similarly distinguishable by their writing styles. Our work takes the first step into exploring this problem. By approaching the problem using a traditional classification method, we extract three types of writing style-based features and carry out detailed experiments in examining the different impacts among features, and classification techniques, as well as the influence of venue content, topics and genres. Experiments on real data from ACM and Cite Seer digital libraries demonstrate our approach to be an effective method in distinguishing venues in terms of their writing styles.
Fibrinolytic agents in animal models of cerebrovascular ischemia

Abstract Experience with fibrinolytic agents in acute cerebral ischemia models supports several conclusions: (i) the presence or stimulation of endogenous t-PA, u-PA, and the appropriate plasminogen activator inhibitors has not been well-studied in acute cerebral ischemia animal model systems; (ii) recent studies have focused on the rather obvious assertion that fibrinolytic agents may produce thrombus lysis in acute cerebrovascular thrombotic occlusions; (iii) early intervention with rt-PA may result in more rapid thrombus lysis, earlier recovery of function, and decreased mortality in small animal stroke thromboembolism models; (iv) rt-PA has no effect on clinical recovery following MCA occlusion and reperfusion in the non-human primate at dose-rates capable of producing very high circulating t-PA levels; and (v) in several model systems, intravenous infusion of rt-PA early after ischemia/infarction by several methods is, not associated with significant intracerebral hemorrhage. Despite the plethora of well-described animal models of acute cerebral ischemia described, few have been employed in extensive studies of the effect of fibrinolytic agents in acute ischemia. Of those reported, no single model addresses more than a single hypothesis with respect to the intervention with a fibrinolytic in acute cerebral ischemia. Of the models available, the non-human primate provides the most relevant setting for the investigation of acute cerebrovascular ischemia and the hemorrhagic consequences in the central nervous system of the use of thrombolytic agents. On the other hand, questions of mortality may be addressed by population studies in small animal models. Other small animal model studies, particularly in the rabbit, have confirmed the observations in other organ systems that thrombus lysis produces reperfusion in the vascular bed under scrutiny.
Finding Predictive Runs with LAPS

We present an extension to the Lasso [6] for binary classification problems with ordered attributes. Inspired by the Fused Lasso [5] and the Group Lasso [7, 3] models, we aim to both discover and model runs (contiguous subgroups of the variables) that are highly predictive. We call the extended model LAPS (the Lasso with Attribute Partition Search). Such problems commonly arise in financial and medical domains, where predictors are time series variables, for example. This paper outlines the formulation of the problem, an algorithm to obtain the model coefficients and experiments showing applicability to practical problems of this type.
Abstractions for Loosely-Coupled and Ensemble-Based Simulations on Azure

Azure is an emerging cloud platform developed and operated by Microsoft. It provides a range of abstractions and building blocks for creating scalable and reliable scientific applications. In this paper we investigate the applicability of the Azure abstractions to the well-known class of loosely coupled and ensemble-based applications. We propose the Big Job API as a novel abstraction for managing groups of Azure worker roles and for remotely executing tasks on them. We demonstrate that Azure enhanced with Big Job functionality provides performance comparable to other grid and cloud offerings loosely-coupled applications.
Probabilistic image modeling via neural networks

The authors propose a neural network approach for the estimation of the local conditional distributions of textured images. They use these distributions to generate a probability distribution on the entire image. The proposed approach overcomes many of the difficulties encountered when using Markov random field (MRF) approaches. In particular, the approach does not require the trial-and-error choice of clique functions or the subsequent estimation of clique parameters. Simulation results show that the images synthesized using neural network modeling produced desired textures more consistently than MRF/Gibbs distribution based methods. >
Statutory Interpretation from the Inside -- An Empirical Study of Congressional Drafting, Delegation and the Canons: Part I

This is the second of two Articles relaying the results of the most extensive survey to date of 137 congressional drafters about the doctrines of statutory interpretation and administrative delegation. The first Article focused on our respondents’ knowledge and use of the interpretive principles that courts apply. This second Article moves away from the judicial perspective. Our findings here highlight the overlooked legislative underbelly: the personnel, structural and process-related factors that, our respondents repeatedly volunteered, drive the details of the drafting process more than do judicial rules of interpretation. These factors range from the fragmentation caused by the committee system; to the centrality of nonpartisan professional staff in the drafting of statutory text; to the use of increasingly unorthodox legislative procedures - each of which, our respondents told us, affects statutory consistency and use of legislative history in different and important ways. Our respondents also painted a picture of legislative staffers in a primary interpretive conversation with agencies, not with courts, and as using different kinds of signals for their communications with agencies than courts consider.Most of the structural, personnel and process-related influences that our respondents emphasized have not been recognized by courts or scholars, but understanding them calls into question almost every presumption of statutory interpretation in current deployment. These findings have significance for textualism, purposivism and beyond. They undermine the claims of proponents of each theory that theirs is the most democracy-enhancing, because none makes satisfactory efforts to really reflect congressional expectations. Our findings challenge textualism’s operating assumption that text is the best evidence of the legislative bargain and suggest more relevant - but still-formalist - structural features that might do better. They reveal that although purposivists or eclectic theorists may have the right idea with a more contextual approach, many of factors on which they focus are not the same ones that Congress utilizes. With respect to delegation, for both types of theorists, Chevron now seems too text- and court-centric, in the light of our findings, to actually capture congressional intent to delegate, which has been its asserted purpose. In the end, our findings raise the question whether the kind of “faithful agent” approach to interpretation that most judges currently employ - one aimed effectuating legislative deals and often focused on granular textual details - can ever be successful. We thus look to different paradigms less dependent on how Congress works, including rule-of-law and pragmatic approaches to interpretation. These alternatives respond to the problem of the sausage factory, but pose different challenges in light of the modern judicial sensibility’s pronounced concern with legislative supremacy.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 Shiga Toxin-Encoding Bacteriophages: Integrations, Excisions, Truncations, and Evolutionary Implications

As it descended from Escherichia coli O55:H7, Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli (STEC) O157:H7 is believed to have acquired, in sequence, a bacteriophage encoding Stx2 and another encoding Stx1. Between these events, sorbitol-fermenting E. coli O157:H(-) presumably diverged from this clade. We employed PCR and sequence analyses to investigate sites of bacteriophage integration into the chromosome, using evolutionarily informative STEC to trace the sequence of acquisition of elements encoding Stx. Contrary to expectations from the two currently sequenced strains, truncated bacteriophages occupy yehV in almost all E. coli O157:H7 strains that lack stx(1) (stx(1)-negative strains). Two truncated variants were determined to contain either GTT or TGACTGTT sequence, in lieu of 20,214 or 18,895 bp, respectively, of the bacteriophage central region. A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the latter variant suggests that recombination in that element extended beyond the inserted octamer. An stx(2) bacteriophage usually occupies wrbA in stx(1)(+)/stx(2)(+) E. coli O157:H7, but wrbA is unexpectedly unoccupied in most stx(1)-negative/stx(2)(+) E. coli O157:H7 strains, the presumed progenitors of stx(1)(+)/stx(2)(+) E. coli O157:H7. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole promotes the excision of all, and ciprofloxacin and fosfomycin significantly promote the excision of a subset of complete and truncated stx bacteriophages from the E. coli O157:H7 strains tested; bile salts usually attenuate excision. These data demonstrate the unexpected diversity of the chromosomal architecture of E. coli O157:H7 (with novel truncated bacteriophages and multiple stx(2) bacteriophage insertion sites), suggest that stx(1) acquisition might be a multistep process, and compel the consideration of multiple exogenous factors, including antibiotics and bile, when chromosome stability is examined.
Prototypical analysis of antisocial personality disorder: a study of inmate samples

The diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) remains controversial with its inclusion criteria substantially modified with each new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Given the continued nonconsensus about this disorder, prototypical analysis has been proposed as a method of establishing the core and most representative APD characteristics. Building on earlier prototypical research, the current study examined APD prototype with 448 inmates from three correctional institutions. Inmates differed from forensic experts on prototypical ratings in their emphasis on behavioral manifestations, especially aggressive and antisocial behavior. On a principal components analysis with a varimax rotation, three dimensions were observed: impaired/dishonest relationships and impulsivity, aggressive behavior, and non-violent delinquency. A comparison of factor scores based on earlier research revealed that the salience of “manipulation and lack of guilt” for forensic experts was...
Reciprocal products of chromosomal translocations in human cancer pathogenesis: key players or innocent bystanders?

Abstract Chromosomal translocations are frequently involved in the pathogenesis of leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas. They can lead to aberrant expression of oncogenes or the generation of chimeric proteins. Classically, one of the products is thought to be oncogenic. For example, in acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL), reciprocal chromosomal translocations involving the retinoic acid receptor α ( RARα ) gene lead to the formation of two fusion genes: X–RARα and RARα–X (where X is the alternative RARα fusion partner: PML , PLZF , NPM , NuMA and STAT 5b ). The X–RARα fusion protein is indeed oncogenic. However, recent data indicate that the RARα–X product is also critical in determining the biological features of this leukemia. Here, we review the current knowledge on the role of reciprocal products in cancer pathogenesis, and highlight how their expression might impact on the biology of their respective tumour types.
A Novel Ku-Band Radiometer/Scatterometer Approach for Improved Oceanic Wind Vector Measurements

This paper presents a conceptual conical-scanning radiometer/scatterometer (RadScat) instrument design for the purpose of improving satellite ocean vector wind retrievals under rain-free conditions. This technique combines the wind vector signature in the passive linearly polarized ocean brightness temperatures with the anisotropic signature of multiazimuthal radar cross-sectional measurements to retrieve oceanic surface wind vectors. The performance of the RadScat is evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation based on actual measurements from the SeaWinds scatterometer and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite II. The results demonstrate significant improvements in wind vector retrievals, particularly in the near-subtrack swath, where the performance of conical-scanning scatterometers degrades.
Reactivity patterns in the reactions of [Rh(CO)2Cl]2 with chelating ketones

Abstract A survey is made of the reactions of chelating ketones and aldehydes with [(CO) 2 RhCl] 2 . With the enolizable ketone 8-quinolinyl benzyl ketone a rhodium(I)-vinyl alcohol π-complex forms, whose crystal structure was determined (C 18 H 13 NO 2 ClRh, monoclinic space group C 2/ c , a 14.531(3), b 18.038(3), c 15.257(3) A, β 111.48(1)°, V 3721 A 3 , Z = 8, final R w 4.16%). The non-enolizable ketone 8-quinolinyl phenyl ketone gives oxygen atom transfer to CO, producing CO 2 and a 1,3-dirhodiametallacyclobutane complex. Oxygen atom transfer is also seen from 8-nitroquinoline to give a chelating nitroso ligand. Finally 8-quinoline carboxaldehyde undergoes CH activation followed by loss of H 2 to give a dimeric acylrhodium(II), whose crystal structure was determined (C 26 H 12 N 2 O 8 Cl 4 Rh 4 , orthorhombic space group Pccn , a 9.466(5), b 13.648(9), c 24.124(14) A, V 3119 A 3 , Z = 4 final R w 5.68%).
The ethics of supervision

Charles S. Levy, DSW, is Professor, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, New York, New York. Considerable attention has been paid in the social work literature to the purposes, skills, and processes of supervision. But the subject of ethics in supervision has been virtually neglected. This article discusses some of the reasons for according to ethics in supervision a high priority, particularly because of current conditions in the field. Six conditions that presently exist in so cial work make the formulation and imple mentation of an ethic for supervision in social work more imperative than ever be fore: (1) resources for social work training and education have been reduced or elim inated, (2) social agencies are finding it difficult to raise funds for their programs, (3) what was formerly a tight labor market has become a tight job market, (4) social work education at the bachelor's degree and associate degree levels has increased, (5) agencies are employing greater numbers of paraprofessional personnel, and (6) pro fessional personnel are increasingly de ployed in supervisory positions.
Emotional maltreatment in adolescents' everyday lives: furthering sociolegal reforms and social service provisions

The article examines sociolegal responses to adolescent victimization, particularly responses to the emotional dimensions of their violent personal relationships. The investigation reveals how the legal system generally fails to recognize youth's emotional maltreatment. Responses tend to consider emotional maltreatment as subordinate and secondary to some legally prohibited sexual and physical assaults. Rather than casting emotional dimensions as ancillary to a narrowly delimited set of sexual and physical assaults, this article proposes that efforts to counter emotional maltreatment become the centerpiece of efforts to understand adolescents' violent relationships; that it become central in the design of policies aimed to foster adolescent development; and that no existing legal rules or policy considerations prevent further recognition of adolescents' legal right to protection from emotional maltreatment.
Disruption of growth hormone secretion alters Ca2+ current density and expression of Ca2+ channel and insulin-like growth factor genes in rat atria.

The influence of the growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis on expression of low-voltage-activated (LVA) Ca2+ current in atrial tissue was investigated using spontaneous dwar...
Package design and materials selection optimization for overmolded flip chip packaging

In overmolded flip chip (OM-FC) packaging, interface delamination-particularly at the die/underfill interface-is often expected to be a main type of failure mode. In this paper, a systematic stress analysis is performed by means of numerical simulations for the optimal design of package geometries and materials combinations. The behavior of the interfacial stresses at the die/underfill and die/mold-compound (MC) during the molding process is investigated, followed by a parametric study to examine the effects of the package geometries and materials parameters including the underfill fillet size, die thickness, die size, die standoff height, solder mask design pattern, MC used as underfill material, MC properties, etc., on the interfacial stresses. The results demonstrate that a proper selection of these parameters can mitigate the interfacial stresses, and thus is important for the reliability of the low-cost OM-FC packages
Long-term safety of tacrolimus ointment in children treated for atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, highly pruritic inflammatory skin disease that is particularly prevalent in the paediatric population. Emollients and topical corticosteroids have represented the standard of treatment for patients with AD, despite their numerous adverse effects and patients’ tendency towards steroid resistance. Topical tacrolimus marks the introduction of an entirely new class of medications, the non-corticosteroid topical immunomodulators. Numerous short- and long-term and ongoing paediatric and adult studies have demonstrated the excellent efficacy and superb safety profile of this anti-inflammatory agent. The authors review many of these landmark studies and discuss the mechanism of action and safety profile of tacrolimus, in the context of the pathophysiology of AD.
Adolescent varicocelectomy: postoperative catch-up growth is not secondary to lymphatic ligation.

Abstract Purpose The major indication for adolescent varicocelectomy is testicular asymmetry with the left testicle smaller than the right. Catch-up growth following surgery is one of the parameters used to assess efficacy of surgery. However, it is not clear whether this represents true tissue growth or increased interstitial fluid secondary to lymphatic obstruction. The purpose of this study was to compare catch-up growth in patients who underwent varicocelectomy with and without lymphatic preservation. Materials and methods We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 136 boys (mean age 15.1 years) who had 10% or greater preoperative testicular asymmetry and underwent varicocelectomy between 1997 and 2006. Surgery was either a laparoscopic nonlymphatic sparing or laparoscopic lymphatic sparing varicocelectomy. All patients had pre- and postoperative ultrasound volume measurements at least 6 months following surgery. The groups were compared for incidence of postoperative catch-up growth, achieving less than 10% testicular asymmetry. Results After a mean follow up of 24.7 months, catch-up growth was achieved in 62.8% of patients. There was no significant difference between the groups in regard to catch-up growth (51.7% vs 66.3%, P = 0.193). Conclusions Since no significant difference was found between the laparoscopic nonlymphatic sparing and laparoscopic lymphatic sparing varicocelectomies, we conclude that lymphatic obstruction is not the cause of catch-up growth.
The cytokine IL-1β transiently enhances P2X7 receptor expression and function in human astrocytes

Extracellular nucleotide di- and triphosphates such as ATP and ADP mediate their effects through purinergic P2 receptors belonging to either the metabotropic P2Y or the ionotropic P2X receptor family. The P2X7R is a unique member of the P2X family, which forms a pore in response to ligand stimulation, regulating cell permeability, cytokine release, and/or apoptosis. This receptor is also unique in that its affinity for the ligand benzoyl-benzoyl ATP (BzATP) is at least 10-fold greater than that of ATP. Primary human fetal astrocytes in culture express low-levels of P2X7R mRNA and protein, and BzATP induces only a slight influx in intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i, with little demonstrable effect on gene expression or pore formation in these cells. We now show that, following treatment with the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1beta, BzATP induces a robust rise in [Ca2+]i with agonist and antagonist profiles indicative of the P2X7R. IL-1beta also induced the formation of membrane pores as evidenced by the uptake of YO-PRO-1 (375 Da). Quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated transient upregulation of P2X7R mRNA in IL-1beta-treated cells, while FACS analysis indicated a similar upregulation of P2X7R protein at the cell membrane. In multiple sclerosis lesions, immunoreactivity for the P2X7R was demonstrated on reactive astrocytes in autopsy brain tissues. In turn, P2X7R stimulation increased the production of IL-1-induced nitric oxide synthase activity by astrocytes in culture. These studies suggest that signaling via the P2X7R may modulate the astrocytic response to inflammation in the human central nervous system.
Antisocial Behavior in School Settings: Initial Differences in an at Risk and Normal Population:

This study examines the behavior of two groups of students in fifth grade—a group of students identified as at risk for development of antisocial behavior and a normal control group. Students in the at risk group were identified primarily on the basis of familial variables. Subjects were selected for two separate cohorts that were studied 1 year apart to facilitate the investigation of generality of findings. Subjects' academic engaged time and social interactive behavior in recess settings were observed and teachers completed ratings of different aspects of the students' social skills. Records were inspected for evidence of principal contacts regarding discipline, attendance, and special education services received. Clear differences were indicated in school behavior between the two groups that were replicated across cohorts.
Por qué Carl Schmitt

En la Cultura Juridica Alemana, Carl Schmitt llego a tener un prestigio mas notable que otros teoricos del derecho alemanes contemporaneos suyos. Aqui se examina a que se debe eso. ?A la contribucion del pensamiento de Schmitt para interpretar y aplicar la Ley Fundamental? ?A las contribuciones de su teoria politica? La respuesta a las dos preguntas es negativa. Su fama se debe al lugar que le otorga el mito sobre el positivismo y el decisionismo del derecho en el regimen nazi. Se debe a la dificultad de integrar el pensamiento juridico del Tercer Reich en la historia de la cultura legal alemana. Un intento de conseguirlo fue recurrir a una equivoca interpretacion ad hoc de la persona de Schmitt.
Performance reduction in finger amputees when reaching and operating common control devices: a pilot experimental investigation using a simulated finger disability.

This paper reports results of an experimental laboratory investigation to determine if finger amputations (most pervasive upper extremity injury in the United States) result in significant work performance deterioration in tasks requiring operation of common control devices found in industrial settings. Ten male student volunteers from the University of Cincinnati participated in this study. The finger disability simulated was of an extreme nature, and was defined as the loss of four fingers in the preferred hand and the thumb in the nonpreferred hand. While being seated, participants activated 5 types of industrial control devices (a rotary dial, a push button, a toggle switch, a castor wheel, and a rocker switch). The controls were assembled on a device attached to a cylindrical pole, such that the control assembly could move up and down the cylindrical pole. The vertical height of control location (15, 20, and 30 in. from the seat reference point) and angle of control location in vertical plane (0°, 45°, 90°, and 135°) were varied in the experiment. Participants also had their torso restrained or unrestrained while reaching and activating controls, in addition to the presence or absence of the simulated disability in each participant. Functional reaches and arm reaches from the wall were measured for participants in the sample to determine the distances at which to place the control pole assembly. If a participant was able to reach the control, the time taken to activate and operate the control was recorded. Overall results indicate that participants took significantly longer (p < 0.05) to activate controls in the presence of the simulated disability. Physical restraint did not significantly alter performance provided the participant was able to reach the control. The type of control and the height of location of the control also significantly affected work performance.
Visible and infrared optical properties of stacked cone graphite microtubes

The absorptive and scattering optical properties of heat-treated, vapor-grown, graphite microtubes consisting of nanotubes in a “stacked cone” configuration were investigated through the visible and infrared wavelengths using photoacoustic and other spectrometric techniques. However, computations of these properties involved uncertainties that were not easily resolved; the appropriate dielectric coefficients were presumed to be a combination of the published values for the distinct orientations of graphite, but the correct proportions are not evident and none of the reasonable choices produced satisfactory agreement (within the measurement limits of error). Since both of the primary components of the extinction were measured, the appropriate computational codes were employed in reverse to compute the dielectric coefficients for the graphite microtubes. Differences, primarily for the imaginary index, are most distinct for visible and near infrared wavelengths; in this wavelength region, the imaginary index falls progressively to less than half that for the computed mixture.
A multi-layered planner for self-reconfiguration of a uniform group of I-Cube modules

In this paper, we present a multilayered planner for the motion of modules in a uniform group of I-Cube self-reconfiguring modular robotic system. The planner uses metacubes, the high-level abstraction of 8C16L groups. It combines distributed approaches at the high-level with lowlevel trajectory computation for the actual modules which can be completed in O(n) steps where n is the number of the cubes in the system, and pre-defined rules for link motions. Mechatronic properties of the latest version of the reconfiguring modules are presented as well as results of the latest hardware and software experiments with the I-Cube modules.
Perspective on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Clinical Practice Guidelines for Smoking Cessation

The new NCCN Smoking Cessation Guidelines represent a critical step in closing research-to-practice gaps, and should help foster successful incorporation of smoking cessation support in cancer care.
One piece at a time: why linear planning and institutionalisms promote military campaign failures

The recent strategic failures in Iraq and Afghanistan for military coalitions illustrate that we have significant problems with understanding how and why we plan military campaigns in ways that over time demonstrate ineffectiveness and confusion. Arguably, we may not realize why we construct insufficient campaign plans because we are not even aware of our cognitive behaviors. This article critically charges that our entire approach to understanding conflict and our subsequent military planning methodologies stem from highly limited yet deeply cherished conceptual models that operate behind the scenes. We hardly realize them, yet they dominate our very understanding of how we imagine the world functions. With military campaign plans, our centralized hierarchies, linear causality reasoning, and other significant sociological forces send us into cycles of poor planning along with institutional blinders that resist critical reflection on why we are failing.
Some relationships among hemostasis, fibrinolytic phenomena, immunity, and the inflammatory response.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the interdependency of the blood clotting process, fibrinolytic phenomena, inflammation, and immunologic reactions. The chapter discusses some of the ways in which the body responds to injuries or to harmful agents. The chapter describes the vantage point of the coagulationist some ways in which hemostasis and its ally—fibrinolytic phenomena—influence inflammation and immune mechanisms. Hemostasis is a complex process that attracts the attention of immunologists. The interesting parallels and at times direct interrelationships of hemostasis and serologic events initiated by antigen–antibody reactions are now apparent. The chapter also provides the basis for a clear understanding of the many elements of hemostasis and a perspective that views the several defense mechanisms as a well-integrated continuum. The chapter provides some of the valuable information available in present scenario concerning the relationships among the blood-clotting process, fibrinolytic phenomena, the inflammatory response, and immune mechanisms.
Primary angioplasty for elderly patients with myocardial infarction: theory, practice and possibilities.

The appropriate method of reperfusion for patients >75 years with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the great enigmas of acute care cardiology. The population at risk is large, comprising roughly one-third of AMI patients and more than one half of AMI mortality [(1)][1]. Yet
Mechanistic Modeling of Critical Flow of Initially Subcooled Liquid Containing Dissolved Noncondensables Through Cracks and Slits Based on the Homogeneous Equilibrium Mixture Method

A model for critical flow in capillaries and cracks of an initially subcooled liquid containing a dissolved noncondensable gas is presented. The model is based on the iterative numerical solution of and the imposition of critical flow conditions on, one-dimensional two-phase flow conservation equations, everywhere assuming homogeneous equilibrium two-phase flow, and equilibrium between liquid and vapor-noncondensable mixture phases with respect to the concentration of the noncondensable. Model predictions are compared with data from two different sources with good agreement, indicating that the assumption of complete equilibrium between the two phases is adequate for estimating the critical flow in microchannels and cracks. The effect of dissolved noncondensables is examined, and it is shown that the desorption of dissolved noncondensables from water can lead to a slight (up to several percent) reduction in the critical flow rate.
Greater Pupil Size in Response to Emotional Faces as an Early Marker of Social‐Communicative Difficulties in Infants at High Risk for Autism

When scanning faces, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have shown reduced visual attention (e.g., less time on eyes) and atypical autonomic responses (e.g., heightened arousal). To understand how these differences might explain sub-clinical variability in social functioning, 9-month-olds, with or without a family history of ASD, viewed emotionally-expressive faces, and gaze and pupil diameter (a measure of autonomic activation) were recorded using eye-tracking. Infants at high-risk for ASD with no subsequent clinical diagnosis (HRA-) and low-risk controls (LRC) showed similar face scanning and attention to eyes and mouth. Attention was overall greater to eyes than mouth, but this varied as a function of the emotion presented. HRA- showed significantly larger pupil size than LRC. Correlations between scanning at 9 months, pupil size at 9 months, and 18-month social-communicative behavior, revealed positive associations between pupil size and attention to both face and eyes at 9 months in LRC, and a negative association between 9-month pupil size and 18-month social-communicative behavior in HRA-. The present findings point to heightened autonomic arousal in HRA-. Further, with greater arousal relating to worse social-communicative functioning at 18 months, this work points to a mechanism by which unaffected siblings might develop atypical social behavior.
Using communication to manage uncertainty about cervical cancer screening guideline adherence among Appalachian women

ABSTRACTChanges to the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for cervical cancer preventive services have led to patient confusion, especially in medically underserved populations. We investigated how patient uncertainty concerning cervical cancer screening guidelines is appraised and managed through communication with healthcare providers by conducting in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 24 adult women between the ages of 24 and 65 (m = 41, SD = 14) living in Appalachia Kentucky. In general, participants expressed a high degree of uncertainty about the updated cervical cancer screening guidelines and appraised this uncertainty as both a danger and an opportunity. Communication with healthcare providers served both to exacerbate and to mitigate patient uncertainty. The study identifies how healthcare providers may use the change in USPSTF guidelines as a “teachable moment” to productively counsel patients on the importance of timely screening, the typical progression of ...
Application of artificial intelligence to wireless communications

This dissertation provides the theory, design, and implementation of a cognitive engine, the enabling technology of cognitive radio. A cognitive radio is a wireless communications device capable of sensing the environment and making decisions on how to use the available radio resources to enable communications with a certain quality of service. The cognitive engine, the intelligent system behind the cognitive radio, combines sensing, learning, and optimization algorithms to control and adapt the radio system from the physical layer and up the communication stack. The cognitive engine presented here provides a general framework to build and test cognitive engine algorithms and components such as sensing technology, optimization routines, and learning algorithms. The cognitive engine platform allows easy development of new components and algorithms to enhance the cognitive radio capabilities. It is shown in this dissertation that the platform can easily be used on a simulation system and then moved to a real radio system. The dissertation includes discussions of both theory and implementation of the cognitive engine. The need for and implementation of all of the cognitive components is strongly featured as well as the specific issues related to the development of algorithms for cognitive radio behavior. The discussion of the theory focuses largely on developing the optimization space to intelligently and successfully design waveforms for particular quality of service needs under given environmental conditions. The analysis develops the problem into a multi-objective optimization process to optimize and trade-off of services between objectives that measure performance, such as bit error rate, data rate, and power consumption. The discussion of the multi-objective optimization provides the foundation for the analysis of radio systems in this respect, and through this, methods and considerations for future developments. The theoretical work also investigates the use of learning to enhance the cognitive engine’s capabilities through feed-back, learning, and knowledge representation. The results of this work include the analysis of cognitive radio design and implementation and the functional cognitive engine that is shown to work in both simulation and on-line experiments. Throughout, examples and explanations of building and interfacing cognitive components to the cognitive engine enable the use and extension of the cognitive engine for future work.
The Role of Growth Temperature in the Adhesion and Mechanics of Pathogenic L. monocytogenes: An AFM Study

The adhesion strengths of pathogenic L. monocytogenes EGDe to a model surface of silicon nitride were quantified using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in water for cells grown under five different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 37, and 40 °C). The temperature range investigated was chosen to bracket the thermal conditions in which L. monocytogenes survive in the environment. Our results indicated that adhesion force and energy quantified were at their maximum when the bacteria were grown at 30 °C. The higher adhesion observed at 30 °C compared to the adhesion quantified for bacterial cells grown at 37, 40, 20, and 10 °C was associated with longer and denser bacterial surface biopolymer brushes as predicted from fitting a model of steric repulsion to the approach distance–force data as well from the results of protein colorimetric assays. Theoretically predicted adhesion energies based on soft-particle DLVO theory agreed well with the adhesion energies computed from AFM force–distance retraction data (r2 = 0.94);...
Linking reform-oriented experiences to teacher identity: The case of an elementary mathematics teacher

ABSTRACTNovice teachers often have difficulty transferring what they learn in teacher education programs to classroom practice. This is especially true for elementary school teachers who are expected to teach mathematics with reform-oriented methods. The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to examine the experience of one novice elementary school teacher over a 3-year period, and understand the factors that supported her to enact a reform-oriented practice in mathematics as she transitioned from being a preservice to inservice teacher. Influential mathematics education models, her commitment to learning, and school-based contexts affected her teaching identity and practices. To conclude, an argument is made for teacher education experiences to explicitly address mathematics teacher identity to support the enactment of reform-oriented practices.
Full-scale field tests on lateral bearing capacity of large diameter belled pile with long cantilever on sloping ground

Based on the full-scale field tests of a 220kV transmission line along the sloping ground of large diameter belled pile with long cantilever,both the interaction law of stability between the pile foundation and the around subgrade and the reduction effect of the sloping ground have been studied.The results indicate that the belled pile with long cantilever belongs to rigid short pile and rotates around the rotating center when it is subject to the horizontal force because of the limited embedded depth and weak restriction.The displacement of the pile body is the controlling factor.Based on the displacement and soil pressure along the pile body,the calculation method of m value and its results are presented.The testing results can provide some data to solve the similar foundation engineering problems along the sloping ground economically.
Detection of crustacean DNA and species identification using a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method

The detection of potentially allergenic proteins, such as those derived from crustaceans, in food products is a major concern for the food processing industry. A PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was designed to detect the presence of crustacean DNA in food products and to determine the species source of the DNA. This PCR assay amplifies an approximately 205-bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene in crustacean species, including shrimp, crab, lobster, and crawfish. This reaction will not amplify DNA derived from mammals, such as cow and sheep. After amplification, the PCR product is digested with differential restriction endonucleases to determine the species source of the crustacean DNA. The specificity of this assay was demonstrated using four species of shrimp, three species of crab, and two species of lobster and crawfish. This assay is sensitive enough to detect crustacean DNA in a raw meat mixture containing <0.1% shrimp.
Making monoclonal antibodies

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the procedures for assaying monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibody technology provides advantage over conventional serology in a manner that the former enables to obtain an infinite quantity of antibody molecules of absolute homogeneity. Monoclonal antibodies should be favorably considered, when an antibody at a specific epitope on the antigen is to be aimed. These antibodies have also been used to identify new components of a partially isolated cellular structure. Another application in which monoclonal antibodies provide useful specificity is the inhibition of an activity by the binding of the monoclonal antibody near the active site of an enzyme. A hybridoma is the result of the physical fusion between a B lymphocyte and a mouse myeloma cell. The B lymphocyte, stimulated in vivo prior to the fusion to secrete a specific antibody, is immortalized by its union with the tumor cell. Because the myelomas, fused or unfused, have an unlimited life span, it is necessary to distinguish between the lymphocyte-myeloma hybridomas and all other cells in the culture. The immune system of the living mouse is stimulated to respond positively to the antigen before performing the fusion.