cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NREL-Exo: A 4-DoFs wearable hip exoskeleton for walking and balance assistance in locomotion

In this paper, we presented a high-power, self-balancing, passively and software-controlled active compliant, and wearable hip exoskeleton to provide walking and balance assistance. The device features powered hip abduction/adduction (HAA) and hip flexion/extension (HFE) modules to provide assistance in both sagittal and frontal planes. Each module's actuation unit employs a Series Elastic Actuator (SEA) to achieve passive compliance. The hip exoskeleton can work in two basic operation modes: human-in-charge and robot-in-charge. Both modes are integrated into the low-level controller based on the admittance control, making transitions smooth and stable. A new balance controller based on the “extrapolated center of mass” (XCoM) concept is presented for real-time control hip abduction/adduction to keep the center of mass (CoM) within the support polygon. The exoskeleton controller is designed to encourage participation in walking instead of overriding users' intrinsic behavior to achieve effective assistance and training. Our preliminary experiments on a healthy subject using the hip exoskeleton demonstrated the potential effectiveness of the device and controller in assisting locomotion.
The Journalistic Discourse in Butor's l'emploi du temps

Michel Butor's L'Emploi du temps is a novel about a detective novel. Drawing on the connections between the detective novel and the fait divers, this essay examines the latter as a journalistic genre that pervades the narrator's discourse. Two other elements of the journalistic discourse, the interview and the feature article, are also discussed.
Cerebrospinal fluid drains reduce risk of spinal cord injury for thoracic/thoracoabdominal aneurysm surgery: A review.

Background The risk of spinal cord injury (SCI) due to decreased cord perfusion following thoracic/thoracoabdominal aneurysm surgery (T/TL-AAA) and thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR) ranges up to 20%. For decades, therefore, many vascular surgeons have utilized cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CSFD) to decrease intraspinal pressure and increase blood flow to the spinal cord, thus reducing the risk of SCI/ischemia. Methods Multiple studies previously recommend utilizing CSFD following T/TL-AAA/TEVAR surgery to treat SCI by increasing spinal cord blood flow. Now, however, CSFD (keeping lumbar pressures at 5-12 mmHg) is largely utilized prophylactically/preoperatively to avert SCI along with other modalities; avoiding hypotension (mean arterial pressures >80-90 mmHG), inducing hypothermia, utilizing left heart bypass, and employing intraoperative neural monitoring [somatosensory (SEP) or motor evoked (MEP) potentials]. In addition, preoperative magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans identify the artery of Adamkiewicz to determine its location, and when/whether reimplantation/reattachment of this critical artery and or other major segmental/lumbar arterial feeders are warranted. Results Utilizing CSFD for 15-72 postoperative hours in T/TL-AAA/TEVAR surgery has reduced the risks of SCI from a maximum of 20% to a minimum of 2.3%. The major complications of CSFD include; spinal and cranial epidural/subdural hematomas, VI nerve palsies, retained catheters, meningitis/infection, and spinal headaches. Conclusions By increasing blood flow to the spinal cord during/after T/TL-AAA/TEVAR surgery, CSFD reduces the incidence of permanent SCI from, up to 10-20% down to down to 2.3-10%. Nevertheless, major complications, including spinal/cranial subdural hematomas, still occur.
EFFICACY OF THE STRETCH BAND ANKLE TRACTION TECHNIQUE IN THE TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH ACUTE ANKLE SPRAINS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL.

Background Ankle injuries account for up to 40% of all sport related injuries. These injuries can result in weeks to months of missed sport or work. The PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) treatment is standard care for most acute ankle sprains. Recently, early mobilization in adults has been shown to decrease time off from sport or work, and the likelihood of developing chronic instability. To date, no research has been performed assessing the effectiveness of early mobilization in pediatric patients (<18 years). Purpose: There were two objectives of this study: (1) to determine if early ankle joint mobilization using elastic band traction is effective and (2) assess the occurrence of adverse events with this technique in the pediatric population. Methods Patients with an acute ankle sprain of <7 days referred to physical therapy were randomly assigned to receive early mobilization or PRICE. Early mobilization was performed using a stretch band ankle traction technique. Both groups received a standardized rehabilitation program. Pain, edema, ankle strength using hand-held dynamometry, and Foot and Ankle Disability Index (FADI) were measured at both initial evaluation and at discharge. The number of days before return to sport and the number of treatment sessions were also variables of interest. Results Forty-one pediatric patients were recruited for participation (mean age 14.6 + 1.9 years). Both treatment groups had clinically significant improvements in pain, edema, strength, and FADI scores. No significant differences in outcomes were noted between treatment groups. Mean number of days for return to sport for the PRICE group was 26.33 + 7.14 and the early mobilization group was 26.63 + 14.82, the difference between groups was not significant (p = 0.607). The number of total visits for the PRICE group of 8.07 + 2.63 and the early mobilization groups of 8.5 + 1.57, was also not statistically significantly different (p = 0.762). There were no reported adverse events with early mobilization. Conclusion Early mobilization appears to be a safe intervention in pediatric patients with an acute ankle sprain. Early mobilization resulted in similar outcomes when compared to traditional PRICE treatment. A high drop-out rate in both treatment groups was a limitation of this randomized trial. Level of evidence 1b.
Enhanced and Suppressed Visible Spontaneous Emission by Atoms in a Concentric Optical Resonator

Recently there has been widespread interest in enhanced and suppressed spontaneous emission by atoms in cavities. Changes in spontaneous emission occur when the density of modes in the cavity differs from that of free space. One means of accomplishing this is to choose a cavity with dimensions comparable to a wavelength, so that the cavity mode spectrum is discrete, or below cutoff in the case of a waveguide. [1–3] Recently, we introduced an alternate approach and have observed enhanced and suppressed visible spontaneous emission of the resonance transition of Yb in a con-focal resonator with dimensions much larger than a wavelength [4]. Our experiments make use of the fact that the transverse modes of this resonator are degenerate, so that many modes are simultaneously brought into and out of resonance as the resonator is tuned.
Time Consistency and Robustness of Equilibria in Non-Cooperative Dynamic Games

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses time consistency and robustness of equilibria in noncooperative dynamic games. It presents a unified description of time consistency in dynamic decision problems, so as to encompass both stochastic and deterministic models, and a variety of information patterns and solution concepts. For a meaningful study of time consistency, it is essential that the problem formulation be consistent across time. One of the major differences between static (or myopic) policies and dynamic ones is that a dynamic policy uses the available a priori information on the future evolution of the decision process such as the decision (state) dynamics, the time horizon, the possibility of acquiring some dynamic information in the future, and the trade-offs between current and future performances. The issue of time consistency of optimal or equilibrium policies in dynamic single-agent and multiple-agent (game) problems is a topic of major importance in economic decision making. Without a reliable probabilistic assessment of deviations from a nominal model, it would not be possible to accommodate such problems in the general framework.
Adipocyte Growth and Factors Influencing Adipocyte Life Cycle

Adipose tissue growth occurs in the body at specific sites called adipose tissue depots. These fats depots form from the accumulation of adipocytes, the predominant cells of adipose tissue that are filled with triglycerides. Lately, adipose tissue is considered much more than an energy storage site. It is a source of hormones, growth factors, cytokines, and signaling molecules that regulate body metabolism. Furthermore, adipose tissue growth occurs through increases in size and number of adipocytes, which in turn is determined by a balance of lipolysis, lipogenesis, and adipocyte proliferation. Recently, a life cycle for adipocytes is acknowledged, which includes proliferation, growth arrest, clonal expansion, terminal differentiation, and apoptosis. Several factors affect adipocytes in their life cycle, and in the current chapter, major factors that influence the adipocyte life cycle are categorized into adipokines, transcription factors, hormonal factors, and nutritional and environmental factors. Studying these factors that influence and target different stages of the adipocyte life cycle might prove beneficial in understanding the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying adipose tissue development.
Faculty Perceptions of the Transition of a Learning Management System through the Lens of Organizational Change: A Case Study

Learning environments in higher education are changing rapidly, with increased attention surrounding active learning, educational technologies, and their impact on teaching and learning. Companies are creating and introducing innovative technologies at breakneck speeds, often overwhelming academic leaders charged with meeting the needs of the institution, faculty, students, and community. This whirlwind of change creates new challenges and opportunities for leaders to address as they guide their institutions toward adopting new educational technologies, specifically Learning Management Systems (LMS). Academic leaders must strive to build a strong vision for the future and seek support frameworks that encourage acceptance by faculty of the LMS as a fundamental design and delivery tool for instruction. As with any change, perception is at the heart of acceptance regarding innovation. This study explores the perceived impact of nine faculty members’ experiences regarding the change process during an LMS transition on a Midwestern United States urban campus. To do so, a conceptual framework has been developed, combining individual and group-oriented approaches to leading organizational change. Using a case study approach with the lens of the conceptual framework, the study creates a rich exploration of the phenomenon of leading organizational change in higher education. Emergent themes lead to recommendations that will benefit leaders as they navigate innovative educational technology transitions in higher education.
William Edward Highsmith.

Dr. William Edward “Ed” Highsmith passed away Tuesday, May 22, 2018, at the age of 63, from a heart attack at his home. He was born on August 2, 1954, in Gadsden, Alabama, to university academics Dr. William Edward Highsmith and Allene Sugg …
A field-deployable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method for sensitive analysis of silver nanoparticles in environmental waters.

Abstract The proliferation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the environment and resultant transport into aquatic systems have raised concerns regarding their potential toxicity to various organisms. These environmental and ecological concerns demand reliable AgNP detection methods which can measure environmentally relevant quantities of AgNPs in real aquatic systems. This study developed a method that couples a rapid vacuum filtration technique with a portable Raman spectrometer to achieve on-site detection of ultra-low levels of AgNPs in typical and complex aquatic systems. To extract and detect AgNPs, aluminum chloride and ferbam were added for AgNP aggregation and labelling, respectively. The AgNP aggregates were filtered through a membrane, and their presence and quantity were determined based upon the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) peak intensity of ferbam. Under the optimized conditions, the extraction efficiencies are 99 ± 0.001% in ultrapure water and 98 ± 0.025% in marine water for 1 mg/L AgNPs. This method enables simple volume adjustment and improves the consistency of AgNP distribution on the membrane. The performance of the method was evaluated in different environmental waters, including marine water, fresh waters (pond water, river water, and reservoir outlet water) and drinking waters (municipal tap water and well water), with highest signal intensity in marine water and lowest signals in fresh waters. The signal intensity difference was suggested to be caused by the amount of natural organic matter (NOM) in these environmental waters. Using pond water as an example, the interference was minimized by changing the aggregating salt from AlCl3 to MgCl2, and AgNPs as low as 5 μg/L were reliably detected with a volume of 100 mL. At the same volume, the developed method was sensitive enough to detect 1 μg/L AgNPs in marine water and also holds promise for assessing the time-dependent transformation of AgNPs.
Trajectories of racial and gender health disparities during later midlife: Connections to personality.

Objective We examined race/gender effects on initial levels and trajectories of self-reported physical and mental health, as well as the moderating role of personality. We hypothesized that health disparities would remain stable or decrease over time, and that at-risk personality traits (e.g., neuroticism) would have a more robust negative impact on health for Black participants. Method Analyses utilized 6 waves of data from a community sample of 1,577 Black and White adults (mean age 60 years), assessed every 6 months for 2.5 years. Using multigroup latent growth curve modeling, we examined initial levels and changes in health among White men, White women, Black men, and Black women. Results Black participants reported lower initial physical health than Whites. Women's physical health was stable over time, whereas men's declined. There were no disparities in mental health. Higher agreeableness was associated with higher initial levels of physical health only among Black men and White women. All other personality traits were associated with physical and mental health similarly across race and gender. Conclusions Race and gender influence health trajectories. Most personality- health associations replicated across race and gender, except for agreeableness with physical health. An intersectional framework considering more than one aspect of social identity is crucial for understanding health disparities. Future studies may benefit from including large, diverse samples of participants and further examining the moderating effects of race and gender on personality associations with a variety of health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Should Cytochrome P450 Inducers be Used to Accelerate Clearance of Brodifacoum from Poisoned Patients

A recent multi-state outbreak of life-threatening bleeding following inhalation of synthetic cannabinoids has been attributed to contamination with the long-acting anticoagulant rodenticide (LAAR) brodifacoum, a second-generation, highly potent, long-acting derivative of the commonly used blood thinner warfarin. While long-term treatment with high-dose vitamin K1 restores coagulation, it does not affect brodifacoum metabolism or clearance, and, consequently, brodifacoum remains in the human body for several months, thereby predisposing to risk of bleeding recurrence and development of coagulation-independent injury in extrahepatic tissues and fetuses. This has prompted the evaluation of pharmacological measures that accelerate brodifacoum clearance from poisoned patients. Since the induction of certain cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes accelerates warfarin metabolism, using CYP inducers, such as phenobarbital, to accelerate brodifacoum clearance seems plausible. However, unlike warfarin, brodifacoum does not undergo significant metabolism in the liver, nor have the effects of phenobarbital on vitamin K1 metabolism been previously determined. In addition, the safety of phenobarbital in brodifacoum-poisoned patients has not been established. Therefore, we propose that CYP inducers should not be used to accelerate the clearance of brodifacoum from poisoned patients, but that alternative approaches such as reducing enterohepatic recirculation of brodifacoum, or using lipid emulsions to scavenge brodifacoum throughout the body, be considered.
CHAPTER 2 – MECHANISMS OF ELECTRON PRODUCTION IN ION—ATOM COLLISIONS

Several mechanisms of electron production in ion-atom collisions at keV to MeV energies are discussed in connection with the experimental evidence provided by the measurement of cross sections differential in angle and energy of electron ejection. The apparatus and methods of determining such cross sections and electron spectra are described. Direct Coulomb ejection is described theoretically using the Born approximation and also the binary encounter model. Autoionization and Auger spectra are presented and compared for various types of excitation. The Fano theory of autionization is discussed and resonance parameters and angular distributions are calculated. The Fano-Lichten model is used to interpret the spectra of electrons from heavy particle impacts and the relation of this model to the Born approximation is pointed out. The mechanism of charge transfer to continuum states is treated from very general theoretical considerations and also by the specific theories of Salin and of Macek. The experimental work at zero angle of electron ejection confirms the existence of this mechanism.
Team-Based Learning in a Coaching Education Course: Impact on Student Learning

Purpose:We implemented an active learning teaching strategy in a coaching education course utilizing a modified team-based learning (TBL) approach, assessing the learning benefits and satisfaction ...
Targeting Autophagy in Cancer: Recent Advances and Future Directions

Autophagy, a multistep lysosomal degradation pathway that supports nutrient recycling and metabolic adaptation, has been implicated as a process that regulates cancer. Although autophagy induction may limit the development of tumors, evidence in mouse models demonstrates that autophagy inhibition can limit the growth of established tumors and improve response to cancer therapeutics. Certain cancer genotypes may be especially prone to autophagy inhibition. Different strategies for autophagy modulation may be needed depending on the cancer context. Here, we review new advances in the molecular control of autophagy, the role of selective autophagy in cancer, and the role of autophagy within the tumor microenvironment and tumor immunity. We also highlight clinical efforts to repurpose lysosomal inhibitors, such as hydroxychloroquine, as anticancer agents that block autophagy, as well as the development of more potent and specific autophagy inhibitors for cancer treatment, and review future directions for autophagy research. SIGNIFICANCE: Autophagy plays a complex role in cancer, but autophagy inhibition may be an effective therapeutic strategy in advanced cancer. A deeper understanding of autophagy within the tumor microenvironment has enabled the development of novel inhibitors and clinical trial strategies. Challenges and opportunities remain to identify patients most likely to benefit from this approach.
Review of Bladder Pain and Referred T12–L2 Input as One Etiology for Interstitial Cystitis

Background The etiology of interstitial cystitis (IC)/bladder pain syndrome (BPS) remains a mystery. Based on two patients, whose IC/BPS was relieved by resection of injured iliohypogastric (IH) and ilioinguinal (II) nerves, injured by endoscopic prostatectomy in the first patient and a stretch/traction injury in the second patient, a referred pain pathway is hypothesized that can be applied to patients with IC/BPS and previous abdominal wall surgery/injury. Methods The known neurophysiology of bladder function was reviewed as were the pathways for accepted referred pain syndromes. Results Perception of bladder filling occurs by impulses generated from stretch receptors in the bladder wall, traveling along visceral afferent fibers that enter the thoracolumbar spinal cord at T12, L1, and L2, the same location as the sympathetic outflow to the viscera and the same location as some of the visceral afferents from the bladder. The II and IH nerves originate from T12, L1, and sometimes L2 somatic, dorsal root ganglia. It is hypothesized that somatic afferent pain impulses, from the lower abdominal wall, are misinterpreted as visceral afferent impulses from the bladder, giving rise to the urinary frequency and urgency of IC/BPS. Resecting injured cutaneous afferents (II and IH) permitted long-term IC/BPS relief in the first patient for 59 months and in the second patient for 30 months. Neural inputs from the sacral visceral afferents and sacral somatic afferents did not appear to be involved in this referred pain pathway. Conclusion Nerve blocks of the T12 -L2 spinal nerves in patients with bladder pain who also have had abdominal wall surgery/injury may identify IC/BPS patients for whom resection of the II and IH nerves may prove beneficial in obtaining lasting IC/BPS relief.
Emphatic segments and emphasis spread in Lebanese Arabic : a real-time magnetic resonance imaging study

Production of emphatic consonants by a speaker of Lebanese Arabic was examined using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI). Emphatic consonants were found to be articulated with a lowered, more retracted tongue body than their nonempatic counterparts, with the narrowest emphatic constriction observed in the upper pharynx. Both progressive and regressive emphasis spread was observed; spreading was not blocked by an intervening palatal approximant [j]. Emphaticized segments exhibit similar retraction and depression, with magnitudes that vary depending on the direction of spreading. These data suggest that emphasis spread may operate in a phoneticallycomplex way, not currently accounted for by phonological theory, and in addition, illustrate the advantage of real-time MRI as a method for studying emphasis in Semitic phonology.
Constant Power Load Challenges in Droop Controlled DC Microgrids

DC microgrids are studied in different aspects for many years. In DC microgrids with applications such as more electric aircraft (MEA), different kinds of loads exist. Constant power load (CPL) is among the most frequent type of loads found in DC microgrids. In this paper, a DC microgrid platform with different kinds of sources and loads are considered. Droop control algorithm is utilized for the current sharing among sources. Secondary controller is employed to compensate the voltage drop due to the droop functionality. In the existence of CPLs, voltage compensation may result in increase in transmission loss. Moreover, CPLs introduce negative impedance and instability to the system. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis to observe the stability of the system while deriving the range of CPLs to have a lower transmission loss. The proposed approach gives an idea of what percentage of CPLs to constant impedance load (CIL) yields to an improvement in voltage level as well as reduction in transmission loss. Simulation results are used to verify the effectiveness of the mathematical calculation.
Latent learning drives sleep-dependent plasticity in distinct CA1 subpopulations

Abstract Latent learning allows the brain the transform experiences into cognitive maps, a form of implicit memory, without reinforced training. Its mechanism is unclear. We tracked the internal states of the hippocampal neural ensembles and discovered that during latent learning of a spatial map, the state space evolved into a low-dimensional manifold that topologically resembled the physical environment. This process requires repeated experiences and sleep in-between. Further investigations revealed that a subset of hippocampal neurons, instead of rapidly forming place fields in a novel environment, remained weakly tuned but gradually developed correlated activity with other neurons. These ‘weakly spatial’ neurons bond activity of neurons with stronger spatial tuning, linking discrete place fields into a map that supports flexible navigation.
GABA neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius express GLP-1 receptors and mediate anorectic effects of liraglutide in rats

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist liraglutide is approved for the treatment of obesity; however, there is still much to be learned regarding the neuronal sites of action that underlie its suppressive effects on food intake and body weight. Peripherally administered liraglutide in rats acts in part through central GLP-1Rs in both the hypothalamus and the hindbrain. Here, we extend findings supporting a role for hindbrain GLP-1Rs in mediating the anorectic effects of liraglutide in male rats. To dissociate the contribution of GLP-1Rs in the area postrema (AP) and the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), we examined the effects of liraglutide in both NTS AAV-shRNA-driven Glp1r knockdown and AP-lesioned animals. Knockdown of NTS GLP-1Rs, but not surgical lesioning of the AP, attenuated the anorectic and body weight-reducing effects of acutely delivered liraglutide. In addition, NTS c-Fos responses were maintained in AP-lesioned animals. Moreover, NTS Glp1r knockdown was sufficient to attenuate the intake- and body weight-reducing effects of chronic daily administered liraglutide over 3 weeks. Development of improved obesity pharmacotherapies requires an understanding of the cellular phenotypes targeted by GLP-1R agonists. Fluorescence in situ hybridization identified Glp1r transcripts in NTS GABAergic neurons, which when inhibited using chemogenetics, attenuated the food intake- and body weight-reducing effects of liraglutide. This work demonstrates the contribution of NTS GLP-1Rs to the anorectic potential of liraglutide and highlights a phenotypically distinct (GABAergic) population of neurons within the NTS that express the GLP-1R and are involved in the mediation of liraglutide signaling.
Eidos: An Open-Source Auditory Periphery Modeling Toolkit and Evaluation of Cross-Lingual Phonemic Contrasts

Many analytical models that mimic, in varying degree of detail, the basic auditory processes involved in human hearing have been developed over the past decades. While the auditory periphery mechanisms responsible for transducing the sound pressure wave into the auditory nerve discharge are relatively well understood, the models that describe them are usually very complex because they try to faithfully simulate the behavior of several functionally distinct biological units involved in hearing. Because of this, there is a relative scarcity of toolkits that support combining publicly-available auditory models from multiple sources. We address this shortcoming by presenting an open-source auditory toolkit that integrates multiple models of various stages of human auditory processing into a simple and easily configurable pipeline, which supports easy switching between ten available models. The auditory representations that the pipeline produces can serve as machine learning features and provide analytical benchmark for comparing against auditory filters learned from the data. Given a low- and high-resource language pair, we evaluate several auditory representations on a simple multilingual phonemic contrast task to determine whether contrasts that are meaningful within a language are also empirically robust across languages.
I. P. Pavlov and W. B. Cannon: founders of modern physiological thought relative to behavior and the autonomic nervous system.

It was almost a half century ago that I last attended an International Congress in Moscow and Leningrad—the IUPS Congress of 1935. My wife and I traveled far and saw the majesty of this land and its peoples. Here I met the great Pavlov and heard him present his thoughts concerning the conditioning of behavior. Cannon presented his concepts of transmitters and receptors. There were many other famous physiologists present, A. V. Hill and Lord Adrian; Kato of Japan demonstrated single nerve fiber studies. Someone talked of conditioned diuresis; I read a paper on hypothalamic control of the hypophysis. That was the dawn of neuroendocrinology, studies of hypothalamic function, sensory receptors, and the transmitter-receptor era. It was, like now, a time of great scientific endeavor, but there were clouds in the sky—Stalin and Hitler were coming to power, but the U.S.S.R. and America were friends, and in science it is still so.
Preliminary Assessment of Human Biological Responses to Low-level Ozone

Multi-modal wearable sensors monitoring physiology and environment simultaneously would offer a great promise to manage respiratory health, especially for asthmatic patients. In this study, we present a preliminary investigation of the correlation between ozone exposure, heart rate, heart rate variability, and lung function. As the first step, we tested the effect of low-level ozone exposure in a sample size of four healthy individuals. Test subjects underwent controlled exposure from 0.06 to 0.08 ppm of ozone and filtered air on two separate exposure days. Our results indicate an increment in mean heart rate in three out of four test subjects when exposed to ozone. We have also observed that changes in mean heart rate has a positive correlation with changes in lung function and a negative correlation with changes in neutrophil count. These results provide a baseline understanding of healthy subjects as a control group.
Universal Prenatal Screening and Testing and Chlamydia trachomatis Conjunctivitis in Infants.

ABSTRACT We retrospectively reviewed all infant Chlamydia trachomatis eye cultures submitted to the Chlamydia Research Laboratory from 1986 to 2002. The positivity rate was 15.6% during the period before the implementation of universal prenatal screening (1986-1993) compared with 1.8% during the screening period (1994-2002).
Self-Care and Storytelling for Radiologists: A Feasibility Study.

Abstract Rationale and Objectives Physician wellness and burnout mitigation strategies have become priority practices in recent years. Despite these efforts, however, physicians living with the psychological effects of the current COVID-19 global pandemic, political stressors, and social injustices, face ever increasing threats to their personal and professional well-being. This manuscript investigates the process of storytelling as a self-care practice for radiologists. Materials and Methods The AUR Well Being Ad-Hoc Committee introduced and approved Storytelling Geek Week, a virtual workshop held by The Moth, a Peabody award-winning storytelling nonprofit group. Nineteen AUR members applied and were selected for participation in the workshop which occurred over 5 days in November 2020. Anonymous electronic surveys were sent to participants before and after the workshop to gather feedback on their experience. Results Of the 19 AUR member participants, 12 (63%) completed the pre-workshop survey and 8 (42%) completed the post-workshop survey. Participant current state of well-being was found to be increased between the pre- and post-course surveys, with a statistically significant adjusted P-value of 0.017. All 8 post-workshop respondents reported that they would recommend the workshop to others. With regard to how participation in the workshop impacted their wellbeing, representative free text responses include, “helped with processing emotions,” and “felt more connected to strangers.” Regarding shifts in perspective as a result of workshop participation, representative free text responses include, “more empathetic” and “started focusing on hope and gratitude rather than sadness and anxiety.” Conclusion Participants in a storytelling workshop reported a positive impact on their perceived sense of well-being. Respondents also reports shifts in their sense of empathy and connectedness to others. This type of intervention may help to mitigate burnout and build community during challenging times.
Clinical evaluation of software for processing 13N-ammonia rest-stress cardiac perfusion PET/CT studies

3060 Background: Rest-stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is commonly utilized for diagnosing cardiac perfusion abnormalities in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. With 13N-ammonia PET/CT, there must be an interval of about 40 minutes between the rest and stress injections of 13N-ammonia in order to allow the rest dose to decay. MultiFunctional Imaging LLC (MFI) developed software called mfiVerse that will remove the residual 13N-ammonia activity of the rest injection from the stress scan. This should eliminate the delay time between scans because the stress injection can occur immediately after the rest scan, thereby increasing patient throughput, improving patient comfort and reducing the load on the cyclotron. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate mfiVerse software and ensure that it that removes residual rest activity from the stress scan without creating artifacts in the images or large changes in myocardial blood flow (MBF) values. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed eleven patients that were scanned on a GE Healthcare Discovery 710 PET/CT system. Patients were injected with 470.5 ± 16.3MBq (12.7 ± 0.44mCi) and 458.7 ± 15.3MBq (12.4 ± 0.42mCi) for rest and stress scans, respectively, and the mean time interval was 31.8 ± 1.7 min between injections. Rest and stress scans were both 15 min in duration. Dynamic stress images processed with and without mfiVerse (version 1.2) were sent to PMOD (PMOD Technologies, version 3.5) to generate time activity curves (TACs) of the global myocardial and left ventricular (LV) uptake and to INVIA 4DM (INVIA, LLC, version 2017) to calculate MBF. The uptake and percent change in uptake in the early (pre-stress injection) phase of the myocardial TAC and the percent change in uptake in the late phase (1 to 12 min) of the myocardial and LV TACs were calculated for all patient studies. Results: The mean uptake in the early phase of the stress myocardial TAC decreased from 3.5 ± 1.7 to 1.2 ± 1.1 kBq/ml, representing a 64.7 ± 24.6% reduction in uptake (range 7.0% to 81.2%) when the stress study was processed with mfiVerse. The mean uptake in late myocardial and LV activity of the stress scan was reduced by 7.0 ± 2.4% (range 0.9% to 9.3%) and 7.5 ± 2.4% (range 2.3% to 10.2%), respectively. The dynamic stress series corrected for residual rest activity with mfiVerse showed a mean reduction of 6.2 ± 0.4% in MBF for left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex artery (LCX), and right coronary artery (RCA) regions of the heart for all eleven patients. Finally, there were no artifacts or large changes in MBF when the stress images were processed with mfiVerse. Conclusions: This preliminary evaluation indicates mfiVerse can reliably remove the residual rest activity from the stress scan for studies with a 30 min time interval. The next phase of testing mfiVerse will be to further decrease the time interval between injections.
The Growth and Stability of Ultrathin Films on Metal and Oxide Surfaces

The interactions of ultrathin transition metal films deposited onto single crystal TiO2 and Al2O3 surfaces have been studied using surface science methods. We characterize the morphology of the films during initial stages of growth, as well as the chemical and electronic properties of the metal/oxide interface. By comparing results for different metals (Ti, Cr, Fe, Cu, Pd, Hf, Pt, Au) general trends of overlayer growth on oxide surfaces are extracted. We find that the ability of the metal film to cover (wet) the oxide substrate correlates directly with the reactivity of overlayer metal toward oxygen.
Yoga and Cognition: A Meta-Analysis of Chronic and Acute Effects

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo review and synthesize the existing literature on the effects of yoga on cognitive function by determining effect sizes that could serve as a platform to design, calculate statistical power, and implement future studies.MethodsThrough electronic databases, we identified acute stu
Developmental sequelae in infants having suffered severe perinatal asphyxia

Abstract Fifteen of 20 infants surviving perinatal asphyxia (Apgar ≤ 3) necessitating resuscitation with positive-pressure oxygen and intravenous buffer were compared with 14 healthy mature nonasphyxiated infants 15 to 40 months after birth. Ten asphyxiated and 11 nonasphyxiated infants had normal neurologic examinations while two asphyxiated and three nonasphyxiated babies had borderline results. The three intrauterine growth-retarded babies in the asphyxia group all had neurologic deficits. Excluding these three badly damaged growth-retarded babies (mean I.Q. = 31), mean I.Q. scores of asphyxiated and nonasphyxiated groups were identical (96, asphyxiated; 96, nonasphyxiated). These preliminary data suggest a good prognosis for acutely asphyxiated infants managed with current techniques of resuscitation.
Brachyotum sertulatum, una especie nueva de Melastomataceae de Colombia

A new species of Melastomataceae, Brachyotum sertulatum C . Ulloa, from southern Colombia is described and illustrated. It is characterized by a conspicuous single row of large tubercles sub-marginal on the leaf blade above. It is endemic to the Paramo de las Papas in the Colombian massif (Macizo Colombiano), between the departments of Cauca and Huila at around 3400 m. Due to the restricted distribution and small population it is assigned the category of Endangered (EN).
“Tomorrow is another problem”: The experiences of youth in foster care during their transition into adulthood

Abstract This study gathered qualitative information about the experiences of youth transitioning out of foster care into adulthood, from the perspectives of youth themselves, as well as foster parents and professionals. Data was gathered from 10 focus groups comprised of a total of 88 participants, including youth currently in foster care (n = 19), foster care alumni (n = 8), foster parents (n = 21), child welfare professionals (n = 20), education professionals (n = 9), Independent Living Program staff (n = 9) and other key professionals (n = 2). Findings of key themes included: (a) self-determination; (b) coordination/collaboration (c) importance of relationships; (d) importance of family; (e) normalizing the foster care experience; (f) the Independent Living Program and (g) issues related to disability.
Postoperative Management After the Norwood Procedure

Staged reconstruction has become the preferred approach to hypoplastic left heart syndrome at many centers in the United States. The overall results of this strategy are most adversely affected by a high mortality at the initial stage, the Norwood procedure. The hemodynamic instability of a single ventricle providing blood flow in parallel to the systemic and pulmonary circulations combined with the stresses of cardiopulmonary bypass and circulatory arrest result in a precarious postoperative condition. Diligent perioperative management at this stage is essential to survival. To help simplify the complexity of single-ventricle physiology, this article describes a mathematical model that identifies the key elements that affect systemic oxygen delivery. The importance of balancing the circulation is underscored. The value of monitoring both systemic arterial and venous oxygen saturations to assess systemic-topulmonary blood flow ratio is derived from this mathematical model and confirmed experimentally and clinically. Recent research using animal models of single-ventricle physiology is also described. Using these concepts and information, techniques for achieving adequate systemic oxygen delivery are discussed.
Learning and multiagent reasoning for autonomous agents

One goal of Artificial Intelligence is to enable the creation of robust, fully autonomous agents that can coexist with us in the real world. Such agents will need to be able to learn, both in order to correct and circumvent their inevitable imperfections, and to keep up with a dynamically changing world. They will also need to be able to interact with one another, whether they share common goals, they pursue independent goals, or their goals are in direct conflict. This paper presents current research directions in machine learning, multiagent reasoning, and robotics, and advocates their unification within concrete application domains. Ideally, new theoretical results in each separate area will inform practical implementations while innovations from concrete multiagent applications will drive new theoretical pursuits, and together these synergistic research approaches will lead us towards the goal of fully autonomous agents.
Isolation and characterization of trans-acting mutations involved in oxygen regulation of puc operon transcription in Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

Abstract Transcriptional expression of the puc operon in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 is dependent on the partial pressure of oxygen. By using transcriptional fusions in trans of a promoterless fragment derived from the aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase gene of Tn903 to puc operon-specific DNA containing a 629-bp 5' cis-acting regulatory region involved in the expression of puc-specific mRNA, we selected Kmr colonies under aerobic conditions. Two broad classes of mutations, trans and cis, which are involved in O2 control of puc operon transcription, fall into several distinct phenotypic classes. The cis-acting regulatory mutations are characterized in detail elsewhere (J.K. Lee and S. Kaplan, J. Bacteriol. 174:1146-1157, 1992). Two trans-acting regulatory mutants, CL1a and T1a, which are B800-850- Car- and apparently B875-, respectively, were shown to derepress puc operon transcription in the presence of oxygen. The mutation giving rise to CL1a has been shown to act at the puc operon-specific cis-acting upstream regulatory region (-629 to -92). On the other hand, the mutation giving rise to T1a, identifying a second trans-acting regulatory factor(s), appears to act at both the upstream (-629 to -92) and the downstream (-92 to -1) regulatory regions of the puc operon as well as at the level(s) of bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoid biosyntheses, as revealed by the presence of the B800-850 complex under chemoheterotrophic growth conditions. Both the B800-850- Car- phenotype and the trans-acting effect on puc operon expression in mutant CL1a were complemented with a 2.2-kb DNA fragment located within the carotenoid gene cluster. Mutant T1a was complemented with a 7.0-kb EcoRI restriction fragment containing the puhA gene and its flanking DNA (6.3 kb) to restore expression of the B875 complex and to suppress the trans-acting effect resulting in the loss of 02 control. Under chemoheterotrophic conditions, mutant T1a was highly unstable, segregating into a PS- mutant designated T4.
Mapping Some Functions and Four Arithmetic Operations to Multilayer Feedforward Neural Networks

This paper continues the development of a heuristic initialization methodology for designing multilayer feedforward neural networks aimed at modeling nonlinear functions for engineering mechanics applications as presented previously at SPIE 2003, and 2005 to 2007. Seeking a transparent and domain knowledge-based approach for neural network initialization and result interpretation, the authors examine the efficiency of linear sums of sigmoidal functions while offering constructive methods to approximate functions in engineering mechanics applications. This study provides details and results of mapping the four arithmetic operations (summation, subtraction, multiplication, division) as well as other functions including reciprocal, Gaussian and Mexican hat functions into multilayer feedforward neural networks with one hidden layer. The approximation and training examples demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed mapping techniques and details. Future work is also identified. This effort directly contributes to the further extension of the proposed initialization procedure in that it opens the door for the approximation of a wider range of nonlinear functions.
Ultem®/ZIF-8 mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes for CO2/N2 separations

Organic-inorganic hybrid (mixed matrix) membranes can potentially extend the separation performance of traditional polymeric materials while maintaining processing convenience. Although many dense films studies have been reported, there have been few reported cases of these materials being successfully extended to asymmetric hollow fibers. In this work we report the first successful production of mixed matrix asymmetric hollow fiber membranes containing metal-organic-framework (MOF) ZIF-8 fillers. Specifically, we have incorporated ZIF-8 into a polyetherimide (Ultem((R)) 1000) matrix and produced dual-layer asymmetric hollow fiber membranes via the dry jet-wet quench method. The outer separating layer of these composite fibers contains 13 wt% (17 vol%) of ZIF-8 filler. These membranes have been tested over a range of temperatures and pressures for a variety of gas pairs. An increase in separation performance for the CO2/N-2 gas pairs was observed for both pure gas and mixed gas feeds. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Visualization and quantitation of abundant macroautophagy in virus-infected cells by confocal three-dimensional fluorescence imaging

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a human herpesvirus. Primary infection causes varicella (chickenpox), a viremic illness typified by an exanthem consisting of several hundred vesicles. When VZV reactivates from latency in the spinal ganglia during late adulthood, the emerging virus causes a vesicular dermatomal rash (herpes zoster or shingles). To expand investigations of autophagy during varicella and zoster, newer 3D imaging technology was combined with laser scanning confocal microscopy to provide animations of autophagosomes in the vesicular rash. First, the cells were immunolabeled with antibodies against VZV proteins and the LC3 protein, an integral autophagosomal protein. Antibody reagents lacking activity against the human blood group A1 antigen were selected. After laser excitation of the samples, optimized emission detection bandwidths were configured by Zeiss Zen control software. Confocal Z-stacks comprising up to 40 optical slices were reconstructed into 3D animations with the aid of Imaris software. With this imaging technology, individual autophagosomes were clearly detectable as spheres within each vesicular cell. To enumerate the number of autophagosomes, data sets from 50 cells were reconstructed as 3D fluorescence images and analyzed with MeasurementPro software. The mean number of autophagosomes per infected vesicular cell was >100, although over 200 autophagosomes were seen in a few cells. In summary, macroautophagy was easily quantitated within VZV-infected cells after immunolabeling and imaging by 3D confocal animation technology. These same 3D imaging techniques will be applicable for investigations of autophagy in other virus-infected cells.
Redesigning Care Delivery In Response To A High-Performance Network: The Virginia Mason Medical Center

We examine how an integrated delivery system responded to threatened exclusion from an insurer’s high-performance network by attempting to reduce costs through fundamental redesign of care processes. Some factors facilitating this transformation, such as its structure as a large salaried medical group exclusively affiliated with a hospital, might be specific to the organization and its market. Other essential elements could be replicated. But in a fee-for-service payment system, cost reduction from reducing the number of services or changing their mix can reduce profitability. Making the business case for sustaining desirable provider behavior may require that purchasers and plans make equally fundamental changes in payment policy.