cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
‘The quicksand of forgetfulness’: semantic dementia in One Hundred Years of Solitude

This multidisciplinary article compares the pattern of memory loss described in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude to that exhibited by patients with semantic dementia (SD). In his renowned novel, Garcia Marquez depicts the plight of Macondo, a town struck by the dreaded insomnia plague. The most devastating symptom of the plague is not the impossibility of sleep, but rather the loss of 'the name and notion of things'. In an effort to combat this insidious loss of knowledge, the protagonist, Jose Arcadio Buendia, 'marked everything with its name: table, chair, clock, door, wall, bed, pan'. 'Studying the infinite possibilities of a loss of memory, he realized that the day might come when things would be recognized by their inscriptions but that no one would remember their use'. The cognitive impairments experienced by Macondo's inhabitants are remarkably similar to those observed in SD, a clinical syndrome characterized by a progressive breakdown of conceptual knowledge (semantic memory) in the context of relatively preserved day-to-day (episodic) memory. First recognized in 1975, it is now considered one of the main variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Writing within the realm of magical realism and investigating the power of language as a form of communication, Garcia Marquez provides beautiful descriptions of the loss of 'the name and notion of things' typical of the syndrome. He further speculates on ways to cope with this dissolution of meaning, ranging from 'the spell of an imaginary reality' to Jose Arcadio's 'memory machine', strategies that resonate with attempts by semantic dementia patients to cope with their disease. Remarkably, Garcia Marquez created a striking literary depiction of collective semantic dementia before the syndrome was recognized in neurology. The novel also provides an inspiring and human account of one town's fight against 'the quicksand of forgetfulness'.
Alkalization Does Not Alleviate Penile Pain Induced By Intracavernous Injection of Prostaglandin E1

AbstractPurpose: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study was done to determine whether alkalization of prostaglandin E1 decreases pain associated with intracavernous injection.Materials and Methods: Ten subjects with a history of pain following at least 70 percent of injections of prostaglandin E1 received 2 injections of prostaglandin E1, 1 with and 1 without sodium bicarbonate. Patients reported the duration and intensity of pain following each injection.Results: Comparing injections of prostaglandin E1 with and without bicarbonate, there were no significant differences in number of subjects reporting pain, or duration and intensity of pain.Conclusions: Addition of sodium bicarbonate does not alleviate penile pain associated with injection of prostaglandin E1.
Effect of Stress and Pressure on Gas Flow Through Natural Fractures

Gas conductivities of narrow natural fractures in sandstone and chalk were measured under varying stress and pore pressure conditions and showed a decrease in conductivity with increasing net stress. Natural fractures in mudstones exhibited continuously decreasing conductivity upon application of stress, so that correlatable conductivity data could not be obtained. Effective-stress-law behavior for the sandstone and chalk fractures were examined, giving {alpha} values in the range of 0.8--1.06, where {alpha} is the parameter in the effective-stress law, {sigma} - {alpha}P. The value of {alpha} for the fracture in chalk was nearly constant, but the values for the fractures in sandstone tended to decrease with increasing stress. Transition Reynolds's numbers and turbulence factors for flow through the chalk and sandstone fractures were determined, yielding turbulence factors ranging from 6.0--20 {times} 10{sup 6} ft{sup {minus}1} (2.0--6.6 {times} 10{sup {minus}5} cm{sup {minus}1}) for differently stressed fractures. The entire flow behavior of these natural fractures, including conductivity, effective-stress law, and turbulence, is controlled by stress and pore pressure. As a result, pressure depletion during production will significantly change the productivity of a reservoir with similar natural fractures. 28 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.
A new antigen, McCa (McCoy), and its relationship to Kna(Knops)

The antigen McCa is detected in 98.5 and 96.7 per cent of the American Caucasian and Negro populations respectively. In population studies with anti-McCa and anti-Kna, a strong association was demonstrated between the two antigens, with 53 per cent of McC(a-) sample being Kn(a-) compared with a reported frequency for Kn(a-) of only 0.19 per cent.
Drug use among two American Indian populations: prevalence of lifetime use and DSM-IV substance use disorders.

Abstract American Indians (AIs) have often reported higher rates of drug use than have other racial/ethnic groups. However, the majority of these studies have focused on drug use among high school adolescents, with little attention to pathological use such as drug abuse or dependence. This study is among the first to report lifetime drug use and disorder (abuse/dependence) information from community samples of two culture groups of AI people—one in the Southwest (SW), one in the Northern Plains (NP)—ranging in age from 15 to 57 years old. Analyses were conducted within four groups: SW men, SW women, NP men, and NP women. Across the four groups, lifetime use rates for marijuana (36.9–57.5%), cocaine (4.3–21.5%), and inhalants (3.6–17.0%) were the highest drug use rates; heroin (0.5–2.1%), the lowest. Lifetime drug disorder rates were highest for marijuana (4.5–14.1%), cocaine (1.1–2.3%), and stimulants (0.7–1.7%). Lifetime polydrug use disorder rates from 1.2 to 4.5%. Women generally had lower prevalence rates than did men in their culture group. The SW women generally had the lowest rates of use and disorder. Lifetime use and disorder rates among the youngest group were often not different from rates of the older groups. Overall, 40–60% had never used any drugs; 85–95% had not developed any drug disorder. Despite widespread concern and rhetoric about drug problems among AIs, many who had used various drugs either were using them without serious consequences or had quit use altogether.
Effect of a recombinant CD4-IgG on in vitro T helper cell function: Data from a phase I/II study of patients with AIDS

Ten patients with AIDS were enrolled in a phase I/II protocol of recombinant CD4-IgG (rCD4-IgG) treatment. Patients' peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) were tested before, during, and after therapy with rCD4-IgG for T helper (TH) cell function assessed by antigen- and mitogen-stimulated proliferation and interleukin-2 production in response to influenza A virus, allogeneic PBL (alloantigens), and phytohemagglutinin. Although clinical benefit was not evident, rCD4-IgG treatment was associated with rapid and potent improved TH cell function for two of three stimuli tested in 90% of the patients. These data are complemented by an in vitro experimental model that demonstrates the opposing immunologic effects of rgp120 and rCD4-IgG on TH cell function of PBL from uninfected individuals. Thus, restoration of TH cell function by rCD4-IgG in the absence of increased CD4 cell counts could be due to removal of an immunosuppressive factor, possibly gp120. These findings suggest that rCD4-IgG can induce partial restoration of immune function in AIDS patients, even in the absence of apparent short-term clinical benefit.
Flow-induced flushing of relict tube structures in the central Skagerrak (Norway)

Measurements of the O2 microdistribution around relict tubes of the polychaete Spiochaetopterus bergensis revealed an intense passive flushing of the tube structure if exposed to ambient flow. Flushing induced plumes, several microliters large, of O2-undersaturated water that spread downstream in a flow-dependent manner. The plume induced a very irregular interstitial O2 distribution around the tubes, with suboxic microniches. Mass balance calculations based on the measured exchange rates estimated the flushing rate of the relict tubes to be on the order of 5–11 μl tube−1 min−1 at the applied flow rates; this strongly enhanced the benthic solute exchange in the area. Given the high density of several thousand tubes per square meter in the central Skagerrak, this flushing rate has profound effects on the biogeochemistry of the otherwise impermeable sediment, which is unique in the sense that benthic diagenesis is completely dominated by manganese oxidation.
Reappraising the Situation and Its Impact on Aggressive Behavior

Much work has focused on how reappraisal is related to emotions, but not behaviors. Two experiments advanced aggression theory by (a) testing how cognitive and attributional forms of reappraisal are related to aggressive affect and behavior, (b) testing variables that theoretically mediate the relation between attributional reappraisal and aggressive behavior, (c) testing the moderating influences of cognitive and attributional reappraisal on aggressive behavior, and (d) developing and testing an intervention aimed at reducing vengeance through reappraisal training. Study 1 used an essay writing task in a 3 (feedback: provocation, no feedback, praise) × 2 (mitigating information: present, absent) experimental design. Provoked participants who did not receive mitigating information were significantly more aggressive than provoked participants who received mitigating information. State vengeance was a significant mediator. Study 2 examined an experimental intervention on vengeance over a 16-week semester. Intervention participants who had the largest increase in reappraisal displayed the greatest decrease in vengeance. Overall, these findings suggest that reappraisal reduces vengeance and aggressive behavior.
Sourceless tracking of human posture using small inertial/magnetic sensors

Human body posture can be tracked in real-time using small inexpensive inertial/magnetic sensor modules to measure the orientation of individual limb segments. To perform this task inertial/magnetic sensors generally contain: three orthogonally mounted angular rate sensors, three orthogonally mounted accelerometers, and three orthogonally mounted magnetometers. These sensors must be small and light enough to be securely attached to major limb segments and avoid user encumbrance. Sensor data must be processed by an efficient filtering algorithm that is able to produce accurate orientation estimates without singularities in all attitudes and does not require still periods to correct for drift. This paper discusses the design of a sourceless body tracking system with an emphasis on sensor and efficient filter design. Various methods for mitigating small transient orientation errors due to variability in the direction of the local magnetic field vector are also described.
The impact of the active components of functional analytic psychotherapy on idiographic target behaviors

Basic behavioral principles (e.g., reinforcement) are compelling candidates for research isolating and evaluating psychotherapy mechanisms of change in contextual behavioral science. Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is a contextual behavioral treatment approach that teaches therapists to employ behavioral principles, including the evocation of and contingent responding with reinforcement to client behavior live in session, as its hypothesized mechanism of change. FAP also facilitates generalization of in-session improvements to out-of-session contexts. This study evaluated the effect of the active components of FAP – evoking behavior, contingently responding to behavior, and generalizing improvement – on individual target variables of four clients in an A/A+B design. Relationship building aspects of FAP occurred in the A phase; active components were added in the A+B phase. All clients showed changes in target variables after the phase shift per visual inspection, with largely consistent results using simulation modeling analysis. One client dropped out of treatment after the phase shift. Results provide support for FAP's active components as causing the desired changes and move the research closer to isolating specific behavioral principles as the mechanism of change in FAP. Limitations and cautions are discussed.
Estimating the unseen: an n/log(n)-sample estimator for entropy and support size, shown optimal via new CLTs

We introduce a new approach to characterizing the unobserved portion of a distribution, which provides sublinear--sample estimators achieving arbitrarily small additive constant error for a class of properties that includes entropy and distribution support size. Additionally, we show new matching lower bounds. Together, this settles the longstanding question of the sample complexities of these estimation problems, up to constant factors. Our algorithm estimates these properties up to an arbitrarily small additive constant, using O(n/log n) samples, where n is a bound on the support size, or in the case of estimating the support size, 1/n is a lower bound on the probability of any element of the domain. Previously, no explicit sublinear--sample algorithms for either of these problems were known. Our algorithm is also computationally extremely efficient, running in time linear in the number of samples used.In the second half of the paper, we provide a matching lower bound of Ω(n/log n) samples for estimating entropy or distribution support size to within an additive constant. The previous lower-bounds on these sample complexities were n/2O(√log n).To show our lower bound, we prove two new and natural multivariate central limit theorems (CLTs); the first uses Stein's method to relate the sum of independent distributions to the multivariate Gaussian of corresponding mean and covariance, under the earthmover distance metric (also known as the Wasserstein metric). We leverage this central limit theorem to prove a stronger but more specific central limit theorem for "generalized multinomial" distributions---a large class of discrete distributions, parameterized by matrices, that represents sums of independent binomial or multinomial distributions, and describes many distributions encountered in computer science. Convergence here is in the strong sense of statistical distance, which immediately implies that any algorithm with input drawn from a generalized multinomial distribution behaves essentially as if the input were drawn from a discretized Gaussian with the same mean and covariance. Such tools in the multivariate setting are rare, and we hope this new tool will be of use to the community.
Doubly Selective Channel Estimation Using Exponential Basis Models and Subblock Tracking

Three versions of a novel adaptive channel estimation approach, exploiting the over-sampled complex exponential basis expansion model (CE-BEM), is presented for doubly selective channels, where we track the BEM coefficients rather than the channel tap gains. Since the time-varying nature of the channel is well captured in the CE-BEM by the known exponential basis functions, the time variations of the (unknown) BEM coefficients are likely much slower than those of the channel, and thus more convenient to track. We propose a ?subblockwise? tracking scheme for the BEM coefficients using time-multiplexed (TM) periodically transmitted training symbols. Three adaptive algorithms, including a Kalman filtering scheme based on an assumed autoregressive (AR) model of the BEM coefficients, and two recursive least-squares (RLS) schemes not requiring any model for the BEM coefficients, are investigated for BEM coefficient tracking. Simulation examples illustrate the superior performance of our approach over several existing doubly selective channel estimators.
Influence of urban land development and soil rehabilitation on soil–atmosphere greenhouse gas fluxes

Abstract Urban landscapes often have altered soil–atmosphere fluxes of major greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) when compared to their rural counterparts. It is unclear to what degree soil disturbance during urbanization contributes to these altered emissions. In addition, rehabilitation of degraded urban soils through deep tillage and organic amendment may improve the soil's ability to support vegetation, but its effect on subsequent soil GHG emissions is unknown. In 2007, twenty-four plots were either left undisturbed or subjected to topsoil stripping, grading and compacting to mimic typical land development followed by one of three treatments: 10 cm topsoil replaced (typical practice); typical practice plus tilling; or compost incorporation to 60-cm depth, followed by typical practice plus tilling (rehabilitation). Soil–atmosphere CO 2 , N 2 O, and CH 4 fluxes were measured seasonally from fall 2011 to summer 2013. Typical land development practices did not increase global warming potential (GWP) when compared to undeveloped land. Post-development soil rehabilitation, however, resulted in greater GWP (CO 2 eq ranging from 0.7 to 12.1 g C m − 2 d − 1 ) than both undisturbed soils and those subjected to typical development practices (CO 2 eq ranging from 0.1 to 5.6 g C m − 2 d − 1 ) driven primarily by increased CO 2 efflux (ranging from 0.8 to 12.0 g C m − 2 d − 1 compared to 0.2 to 5.5 g C m − 2 d − 1 in other treatments). All soils were CH 4 sinks (ranging from − 0.8 to − 0.2 mg C m − 2 d − 1 ) but CH 4 consumption was too variable to demonstrate treatment effects. Likewise, N 2 O fluxes were largely consistent across treatments. Although greater GHG emissions in rehabilitated soil may be offset by increased plant biomass production, our study only assessed soil–atmosphere fluxes. Results suggest that soil disturbance history and management should be considered when assessing the impact of urban land development on GHG emissions.
PUGSVM: a caBIG™ analytical tool for multiclass gene selection and predictive classification.

Summary: Phenotypic Up-regulated Gene Support Vector Machine (PUGSVM) is a cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG™) analytical tool for multiclass gene selection and classification. PUGSVM addresses the problem of imbalanced class separability, small sample size and high gene space dimensionality, where multiclass gene markers are defined by the union of one-versus-everyone phenotypic upregulated genes, and used by a well-matched one-versus-rest support vector machine. PUGSVM provides a simple yet more accurate strategy to identify statistically reproducible mechanistic marker genes for characterization of heterogeneous diseases. Availability: http://www.cbil.ece.vt.edu/caBIG-PUGSVM.htm. Contact: ude.tv@gnaweuy Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Energy consumption and comfort analysis for different low-energy cooling systems in a mild climate

The mild UK climate makes many low-energy cooling systems both technologically and economically feasible. In this study, EnergyPlus, the newest US energy simulation program, is used to evaluate the potential energy savings of several different systems for a recently built building outside of London, UK. Results from validation studies are briefly presented with the conclusion that EnergyPlus provides sufficient accuracy for most energy simulation applications. Systems evaluated include chilled ceilings, displacement ventilation, natural ventilation, night cooling, and a traditional VAV system. Unusual features of the building model are presented. Results show that systems that maximize free cooling from outside air have the best energy performance, and that natural ventilation alone cannot provide year-round comfort in the building studied, but would be effective as part of a hybrid system.
Manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease in patients of Haitian and Cape Verdean descent

AbstractObjective. Several studies have reported unique ethnic phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). An appreciation of disease manifestations in different populations may improve clinical outcomes. There are no studies examining IBD in patients of Haitian or Cape Verdean descent. We sought to define the IBD phenotype in these populations. Materials and methods. This was a retrospective review comparing Haitian and Cape Verdean immigrant IBD patients to Caucasians, all receiving care at Boston Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The following variables were analyzed: family history, smoking history, vaccinations/cancer screening, age of diagnosis, disease duration, disease location, medication use, and complications. Results. Thirty-one Haitians and 21 Cape Verdeans were matched to Caucasian controls. Haitians (mean age 42 years) and Cape Verdeans (mean age 47 years) with Crohn’s disease were diagnosed with IBD later than Caucasians (mean age 31 years, p = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively)....
Combined Hamartoma of the Retina and Retinal Pigment Epithelium in 77 Consecutive Patients: Visual Outcome Based on Macular versus Extramacular Tumor Location

Purpose To evaluate visual outcome of eyes with combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Design Noncomparative case series. Participants Seventy-nine eyes of 77 patients. Methods Retrospective chart review. Main Outcome Measures Visual outcome. Results The presenting symptoms were decreased vision (n = 32; 40%), strabismus (n = 22; 28%), both (n = 3; 4%), irritation (n = 4; 5%), and none (n = 18; 23%). The tumors had the following characteristics: a mean diameter of 7.6 mm, a mean thickness of 1.9 mm, round (n = 52; 66%) or curvilinear (n = 27; 34%) configuration, and other features including intralesional corkscrew vessels (n = 51; 65%), feeding straight vessels (n = 50; 63%), retinal traction (n = 64; 81%), fibrosis/gliosis (n = 36; 46%), and exudation (n = 10; 13%). Referring diagnosis was unknown (n = 40; 51%) or incorrect (n = 19; 24%) as retinoblastoma (n = 4), astrocytoma (n = 1), toxocariasis (n = 2), choroidal nevus (n = 5), melanoma (n = 6), and hemangioma (n = 1). The mean initial visual acuity by logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (Snellen) for macular (n = 29) versus extramacular (n = 28) tumors was 1.2 (20/320) versus 0.61 (20/80) and at 4 years was 1.72 (20/800) versus 0.79 (20/125). Visual acuity loss of ≥3 Snellen lines was 60% versus 13%. By univariate analysis, the most important factors predictive of poor visual acuity included macular location and clock hour meridian of the tumor. Conclusions Combined hamartoma of the retina and RPE can cause profound visual acuity loss, particularly with macular tumors. Financial Disclosures The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Occupational Therapists’ Responses to Practice Errors in Physical Rehabilitation Settings

Objective Errors occur in all health care professions. Practice errors, however, have not been systematically examined in occupational therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine occupational therapists' responses to practice errors in physical rehabilitation settings. Method A qualitative focus group research method was used in this study and a total of 35 occupational therapists from four different states who had practice experience in physical rehabilitation settings participated in four focus groups. Focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two investigators of the study. Qualitative software program, NUD*IST Vivo was used to aid the data analysis process. Results Five major themes were generated from the data regarding practice errors, which included (1) Concept of practice error: It is against our standards; (2) Perceived causes of practice error: Not just an individual matter; (3) Emotional responses: I felt horrible; (4) Impact on practice: Doing things differently; and (5) Management of practice error: Being honest and taking initiative. Occupational therapists perceived practice error from a broad perspective and identified physical and psychosocial issues as practice error. Conclusion Most practice errors described by participants appeared to be preventable. Despite the tremendous emotional distress in reaction to making an error, participants valued the learning in the experience and made constructive practice changes. Findings of the study have implications for current educational training programs and practice such as the development of clinical reasoning related to patient safety and assertiveness training for hierarchical situations.
Spontaneous drainage of a large cystic tumor

A case is described of a 58 year old male who presented with a large mass on the left side of the abdomen which was found to be cystic by ultrasound. A presumptive diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocyst was made. Shortly thereafter, the mass drained spontaneously further suggesting this diagnosis. At surgery a month later, however, the mass was found to be a metastic leiomyosarcoma with cystic degeneration that had eroded into the gastric wall. This case serves to illustrate that cystic abdominal masses, even ones that drain spontaneously into the gastrointestinal tract, may not be pancreatic pseudocysts.
CWO Data Mining

The Navy Research Laboratory's Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) is a realistic, large-scene simulation that runs daily and generates massive amounts of data. The data must be analyzed and/or reduced to provide pertinent information. This may be achieved through data mining by performing feature detection and/or region-of-interest detection. Data reduction using data mining techniques is not a new idea, especially when the objects of interest are ocean eddies. There are on the order of 20 methods to "data mine" for eddies. However, no one method has been tested on all models, few have been tried on multiple models or model types, and different methods require different data fields (e.g., salinity, temperature, horizontal velocity, vorticity). Our objective was to examine the most attractive eddy detection methods for NCOM and then determine which method provides the best results. We implemented and evaluated two eddy detection methods for NCOM data. The first is an algorithm created at Mississippi State University, which utilizes critical points in ocean flow. The algorithm was developed for the Navy Research Laboratory's Layered Ocean Model (NLOM) and performed well. The second algorithm is based on the Marr-Hildreth edge detection. We evaluated our results by comparing the detected eddy locations to eddies identified in ocean color from SeaWiFS in the northwestern Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman
Health status and clinical practice: when will they meet?

In Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century , the Institute of Medicine proposes 6 specific aims to improve the quality of care in the United States.1 These specific aims are to provide care that is safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable, and patient centered. Of these goals, patient-centered care has received the least attention from both the scientific community and practicing clinicians. Patient-centered care gives patients opportunities to be “involved in medical decision making,” and guides care providers “in attending to their patients’ physical and emotional needs, and maintaining or improving their quality of life.”1 See p 43 To promote patient-centered care, clinicians should measure the health status of their patients with the use of standardized surveys, and then use this information to assist in clinical decision-making. There have been significant advances in health status surveys, and these measures are increasingly being used as primary outcomes in clinical trials. Yet formal health status measures are rarely, if ever, used in clinical practice. The reasons for this apparent gap between research and clinical practice are complex but likely include a lack of understanding of the definition of health status, a lack of familiarity with health status surveys, a perception that these measures are “soft,” and most importantly, a lack of acceptance that health status measures may be useful in clinical practice. Health status is the impact of disease on patient function as reported by the patient. More specifically, health status can be defined as the range of manifestation of disease in a given patient including symptoms, functional limitation, and quality of life, in which quality of life is the discrepancy between actual and desired function (Figure 1). An important point here is that clinicians are traditionally focused on the diagnosis of disease and evaluation …
Antifungal Coatings on Fresh Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) to Control Mold Growth During Cold Storage

ABSTRACT: Chitosan (2%) -based or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) (1%) -based coatings were applied on fresh strawberries to evaluate their antifungal efficacies against Cladosporium sp. and Rhizopus sp. Potassium sorbate (PS) was also incorporated into coating formulas to evaluate any additional inhibitory effects on mold inhibition. Strawberries were inoculated with Cladosporium sp. or Rhizopus sp. at a level of approximately 103 log colony-forming units (CFU) /g, coated with 2% chitosan, 2% chitosan containing 0.3% PS, or 1% HPMC containing 0.3% PS, and stored at about 5°C and about 50% RH up to 23 d for enumeration of mold, yeast, total aerobes, and coli forms. To assess antifungal activity of the coating materials in vitro, coating solutions were embedded into agar plates and the diameters of radial mold growth were measured after inoculation. In addition, weight loss of coated strawberries and water vapor permeability of the coatings were measured. No significant combined inhibitory effects between chitosan and PS on fungal growth on fresh strawberries were detected. However, significant combined inhibition activity was observed in in vitro testing when PS was formulated into chitosan. Antifungal activity of chitosan against Cladosporium sp. and Rhizopus sp. was not affected by the autoclaving process of coating solutions. Coating treatment also reduced total aerobic count, coliforms, and weight loss of strawberries during storage. Hence, chitosan can be used as a natural antimicrobial coating on fresh strawberries to control the growth of fungi, thus extending shelf-life of the fruits.
Medical factors influencing decision making regarding radiation therapy for breast cancer

Radiation therapy is an important and effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Numerous health conditions may affect medical decisions regarding tolerance of breast radiation therapy. These factors must be considered during the decision-making process after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy for breast cancer. Here, we review currently available evidence focusing on medical conditions that may affect the patient–provider decision-making process regarding the use of radiation therapy.
Fast solution of geophysical inversion using adaptive mesh, space-filling curves and wavelet compression

SUMMARY Many geophysical inverse problems involve large and dense coefficient matrices that often exceed the limitations of physical memory in commonly available computers. The repeated multiplications of such matrices to vectors during processing or inversion require an immense amount of computing power. These two factors pose a significant challenge to solving largescale inverse problems in practice and can render many realistic problems intractable. To overcome these limitations, we develop a new computational approach for this class of problems by combining an adaptive quadtree or octree model discretization and wavelet transforms on reordered parameter sets. The adaptive mesh discretizes the model region according to the required resolutions based on localized anomalies. Hilbert space-filling curves and similar ordering of the reduced parameter set then enable a higher compression of the coefficient matrix by forming its sparse representation in the 1-D wavelet domain. This combination can reduce the storage requirement by 100 to 1000 times and, therefore, also speeds up the computation during the processing stage by the same factor. As a result, problems can now be solved that were computationally prohibitive. We present the algorithm and illustrate its effectiveness with an example from equivalent source construction in potential-field processing.
Nitric oxide emissions from soils amended with municipal waste biosolids

Land spreading nitrogen-rich municipal waste biosolids (NO3 -No256 mg N kg � 1 dry weight, NH3-NB23,080 mg Nk g � 1 dry weight, Total Kjeldahl NB41,700 mg N kg � 1 dry weight) to human food and non-food chain land is a practice followed throughout the US. This practice may lead to the recovery and utilization of the nitrogen by vegetation, but it may also lead to emissions of biogenic nitric oxide (NO), which may enhance ozone pollution in the lower levels of the troposphere. Recent global estimates of biogenic NO emissions from soils are cited in the literature, which are based on field measurements of NO emissions from various agricultural and non-agricultural fields. However, biogenic emissions of NO from soils amended with biosolids are lacking. Utilizing a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory and a dynamic flow-through chamber system, in-situ concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) were measured during the spring/summer of 1999 and winter/spring of 2000 from an agricultural soil which is routinely amended with municipal waste biosolids. The average NO flux for the late spring/summer time period (10 June 1999–5 August 1999) was 69.4734.9 ng N m � 2 s � 1 . Biosolids were applied during September 1999 and the field site was sampled again during winter/spring 2000 (28 February 2000–9 March 2000), during which the average flux was 3.671.7 ng N m � 2 s � 1 . The same field site was sampled again in late spring (2–9 June 2000) and the average flux was 64.8741.0 ng N m � 2 s � 1 .A n observationally based model, developed as part of this study, found that summer accounted for 60% of the yearly emission while fall, winter and spring accounted for 20%, 4% and 16% respectively. Field experiments were conducted which indicated that the application of biosolids increases the emissions of NO and that techniques to estimate biogenic NO emissions would, on a yearly average, underestimate the NO flux from this field by a factor of 26. Soil temperature and % water filled pore space (%WFPS) were observed to be significant variables for predicting NO emissions, however %WFPS was found to be most significant during high soil temperature conditions. In the range of pH values found at this site (5.870.3), pH was not observed to be a significant parameter in predicting NO emissions. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Group and Family Therapies: Distinctions

Group and family therapies are alike in some respects and these treatments are often referred to as if they were technically and conceptually the same, but there are differences between them that are more important than the similarities. It seems useful, therefore, to spell out and emphasize the differences.
Mechanisms used to increase peak propulsive force following 12-weeks of gait training in individuals poststroke

Current rehabilitation efforts for individuals poststroke focus on increasing walking speed because it is a predictor of community ambulation and participation. Greater propulsive force is required to increase walking speed. Previous studies have identified that trailing limb angle (TLA) and ankle moment are key factors to increases in propulsive force during gait. However, no studies have determined the relative contribution of these two factors to increase propulsive force following intervention. The purpose of this study was to quantify the relative contribution of ankle moment and TLA to increases in propulsive force following 12-weeks of gait training for individuals poststroke. Forty-five participants were assigned to 1 of 3 training groups: training at self-selected speeds (SS), at fastest comfortable speeds (Fast), and Fast with functional electrical stimulation (FastFES). For participants who gained paretic propulsive force following training, a biomechanical-based model previously developed for individuals poststroke was used to calculate the relative contributions of ankle moment and TLA. A two-way, mixed-model design, analysis of covariance adjusted for baseline walking speed was performed to analyze changes in TLA and ankle moment across groups. The model showed that TLA was the major contributor to increases in propulsive force following training. Although the paretic TLA increased from pre-training to post-training, no differences were observed between groups. In contrast, increases in paretic ankle moment were observed only in the FastFES group. Our findings suggested that specific targeting may be needed to increase ankle moment.
Bound-state field theory approach to proton structure effects in muonic hydrogen

A bound-state field theory approach to muonic hydrogen is set up using a variant of the Furry representation in which the lowest-order Hamiltonian describes a muon in the presence of a point Coulomb field, but the origin of the binding field is taken to be three charged quarks in the proton which are modeled as Dirac particles that move freely within a spherical well. Bound-state field theory techniques are used to evaluate one- and two-photon effects. Particular attention is paid to two-photon exchange diagrams, which include the effect of proton polarizability. In addition the modification of the electromagnetic self energy of the proton by the electric field of the muon is examined. Finally, the model is used to carry out a calculation of the static electric polarizability of the proton.
Genome-Wide Association Study of Ureide Concentration in Diverse Maturity Group IV Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] Accessions

Ureides are the N-rich products of N-fixation that are transported from soybean nodules to the shoot. Ureides are known to accumulate in leaves in response to water-deficit stress, and this has been used to identify genotypes with reduced N-fixation sensitivity to drought. Our objectives in this research were to determine shoot ureide concentrations in 374 Maturity Group IV soybean accessions and to identify genomic regions associated with shoot ureide concentration. The accessions were grown at two locations (Columbia, MO, and Stuttgart, AR) in 2 yr (2009 and 2010) and characterized for ureide concentration at beginning flowering to full bloom. Average shoot ureide concentrations across all four environments (two locations and two years) and 374 accessions ranged from 12.4 to 33.1 µmol g−1 and were comparable to previously reported values. SNP–ureide associations within and across the four environments were assessed using 33,957 SNPs with a MAF ≥0.03. In total, 53 putative loci on 18 chromosomes were identified as associated with ureide concentration. Two of the putative loci were located near previously reported QTL associated with ureide concentration and 30 loci were located near genes associated with ureide metabolism. The remaining putative loci were not near chromosomal regions previously associated with shoot ureide concentration and may mark new genes involved in ureide metabolism. Ultimately, confirmation of these putative loci will provide new sources of variation for use in soybean breeding programs.
Commentary on: Analysis of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification System and Caprini Risk Assessment Model in Predicting Venous Thromboembolic Outcomes in Plastic Surgery Patients

A retrospective chart review for venous thromboembolism (VTE) of a significant cohort of 1598 patients was analyzed with 2 different risk assessment models.1 The charts analyzed represented general, breast, reconstruction, and cosmetic surgery patients but were a skewed partial hospital, partial surgery center patient group. The patients included from Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, may represent a cohort with more comorbidities than mainstream aesthetic patients. The risk assessments were the American Society of Anesthesiologists' (ASA) score and Caprini score and compared with incidence of VTE to identify the cut off in risk level. A Caprini score for high-risk patients was set at different levels of 5+ and 6+ looking for significance. Of the 1598 patients, 1.5% developed VTE. In this study, ASA scores differed significantly between ASA (1-2) low vs (3+) high. The Caprini model captured more patients with VTE in the high-risk group but showed no significant difference between individual groups. The article stated that a higher Caprini score was shown to be associated with increased …
Overview of Lycopene, Carotenoids, and Disease Prevention

Carotenoid pigments comprise a large and interesting group of compounds that first caught the attention of chemists because of their deep yellow, orange, and red colors. They represented some of the first compounds that were separated by chromatography, and to this day, that is an important analytical technique for both quantitating and characterizing carotenoids. Then in 1930, it became apparent that some of the carotenoids could replace vitamin A in animal diets, and this was followed by the realization that some carotenoids were metabolic precursors of vitamin A (1). The ability to function as a provitamin A was limited to those carotenoids with an unsubstituted β-ionone group, and included β-carotene, α-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and several others that are very poorly represented in the human diet. Examples of the provitamin A and nonprovitamin A carotenoids found in human plasma are depicted in Figure 1. Carotenoids such as lycopene, the major pigment of tomatoes, or astaxanthin, the major pigment o...
Aerospace-electronics reliability-assurance (AERA): Three-step prognostics-and-health-monitoring (PHM) modeling approach

When encountering a particular reliability problem at the design, fabrication, testing, or an operation stage of an electronics product's life, and considering the use of predictive modeling to assess the seriousness and possible consequences of its detected malfunction and likely failure, one has to choose whether a statistical, or a physics-of-failure-based, or a suitable combination of these two major predictive modeling tools should be employed to address the problem and to decide on how to proceed. An effective aerospace-electronics reliability-assurance (AERA) approach is suggested as a possible way to go in such a situation. In this approach the classical statistical Bayes formula (BF) is used at the first step as a technical diagnostics (TD) tool, with an objective to identify, on the probabilistic basis, the faulty (malfunctioning) device(s) from the obtained prognostics-and-health-monitoring (PHM) signals ("symptoms of faults"). The physics-of-failure-based Boltzmann-Arrhenius-Zhurkov's (BAZ) equation, a powerful, flexible and physically meaningful modeling tool suggested about five years ago can be employed at the second step with an objective is to assess the remaining useful life (RUL) of the malfunctioning device(s). If the predicted RUL is still long enough, no action might be needed, but if not, a corrective (restoration) action becomes necessary. It is shown in this connection how short/long the repair time should/could be, so that the availability of the equipment (the probability that it is sound and available to the user when needed) does not fall below the allowable level. In any event, after the first two steps of the AERA modeling effort are carried out, and the assessed probability of the product's continuing operation is found to be satisfactory, the device is put back into operation (testing). If failure nonetheless occurs, the third AERA step should be undertaken to update reliability. A well-known four-parametric statistical beta-distribution (BD), in which the probability of failure is treated as a random variable, can be used at this step. The general AERA concept is illustrated by a detailed numerical example geared to an en-route flight mission. The approach can be used, however, also beyond the aerospace field in other vehicular technologies: maritime, automotive, railroad, etc.
Zika Virus as an Emerging Global Pathogen: Neurological Complications of Zika Virus

Importance Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) in the genusFlavivirusthat has caused a widespread outbreak of febrile illness, is associated with neurological disease, and has spread across the Pacific to the Americas in a short period. Observations In this review, we discuss what is currently known about ZIKV, neuroimmunologic complications, and the impact on global human health. Zika virus spread across Africa and Asia in part owing to unique genomic evolutionary conditions and pressures resulting in specific human disease manifestations, complications, and pathogenesis. Recent data suggest that acute ZIKV infection in pregnant women may result in acute infection of fetal tissue and brain tissue, causing microcephaly and potentially severe debilitation of the infant or even death of the fetus. Cases of acute ZIKV are also associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome. With the increased number of cases, new complications such as ocular involvement and sexual transmission have been reported. Conclusions and Relevance Zika virus is an emerging viral pathogen with significant consequences on human health throughout the world. Ongoing research into this pathogen is urgently needed to produce viable vaccine and therapeutic options.
HMM-Fisher: identifying differential methylation using a hidden Markov model and Fisher’s exact test

DNA methylation is an epigenetic event that plays an important role in regulating gene expression. It is important to study DNA methylation, especially differential methylation patterns between two groups of samples (e.g. patients vs. normal individuals). With next generation sequencing technologies, it is now possible to identify differential methylation patterns by considering methylation at the single CG site level in an entire genome. However, it is challenging to analyze large and complex NGS data. In order to address this difficult question, we have developed a new statistical method using a hidden Markov model and Fisher's exact test (HMM-Fisher) to identify differentially methylated cytosines and regions. We first use a hidden Markov chain to model the methylation signals to infer the methylation state as Not methylated (N), Partly methylated (P), and Fully methylated (F) for each individual sample. We then use Fisher's exact test to identify differentially methylated CG sites. We show the HMM-Fisher method and compare it with commonly cited methods using both simulated data and real sequencing data. The results show that HMM-Fisher outperforms the current available methods to which we have compared. HMM-Fisher is efficient and robust in identifying heterogeneous DM regions.
Microsociologies: Social Exchange, Trust, Justice, and Legitimacy

In this chapter I examine contemporary theoretical frameworks that address four micro-level social comparison processes: social exchange, trust, justice, and legitimacy. I first review the basic elements of each process, as defined by scholars who work in their respective research traditions. I then describe theories that have emerged over the past decades that address how each process operates for individuals in social interactions, groups, and in greater society. I then review relevant empirical research that has furthered our understanding of each process. Finally, I discuss interrelations among exchange, trust, justice, and legitimacy and survey recent research that examines how these processes operate together during social interactions.