cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Organic Phosphorus Assimilation Promoting Biomass and Shoot P Hyperaccumulations in Lolium multiflorum Grown under Sterile Conditions

Search for plant species - prodigious in P use - is important for both P-sufficient and -deficient conditions. Gulf and Marshall ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), grown in sterile media containing different organic P substrates (AMP, ATP, GMP, and IHP), exhibited high rates of growth and shoot P concentrations. Growth increase in Gulf was significantly greater on IHP relative to other sources of organic P substrates. Growth was also dependent on an increasing concentration of IHP (0-20 mM) in this cultivar. P accumulations in Gulf exceeded 1% shoot dry weight from IHP, AMP, and ATP-equivalent to the P accrual from equimolar Pi source. Plants supplied with IHP had phytase activity in root extracts comparable to that in Pi-fed plants or control (no P). The extracellular phytase, however, increased by about 100% relative to that observed in root extracts- for both ryegrass cultivars, but there were no significant differences (P < 0.05) between plant groups grown on different substrates (IHP, Pi or control). No significant differences in phosphomonoesterase activities were evident between plant groups supplied with organic P (IHP, G1P) and inorganic source or control. This study establishes the high P-use efficiency in ryegrass, irrespective of P source.
Whose knowledge counts in international student assessments: examining the AHELO epistemic community of economics experts

International student assessments have become the ‘lifeblood’ of the accountability movement in educational policy contexts. Drawing upon Stuart Hall’s concept of representation, I critically examined who comprises epistemic communities responsible for developing the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes economics strand. Through my analysis, I identify homogeneity among test-makers, missing voices, and western concepts as represented ideas that become fixed and circulated through policy channels. In an era of accountability and comparison, comparative international student assessments are becoming increasingly normative in educational settings. As scholars, policymakers, and educators use these test results, we must critically examine who is responsible for producing these tests.
Passive and Active Tobacco Exposure and Children's Lipid Profiles.

INTRODUCTION Despite reductions in smoking rates, exposure to cigarette smoke remains common among US children and adolescents. In adults, active smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure have been linked to adverse changes in lipid profiles and increases in inflammatory markers. Evidence that such changes are present before adulthood remains limited, and the extent to which active smoking and SHS exposure affect these cardiovascular measures in children has not been thoroughly assessed. METHODS We employed data from 2008 individuals aged 12-19 years from the 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Comparisons of the lipid and inflammatory marker levels among active smokers, those exposed to SHS (as determined by serum cotinine levels), and those unexposed to tobacco smoke were made using linear regression with multiple propensity score adjustment. RESULTS Compared to unexposed children, lipid and inflammatory marker profiles did not differ among those exposed to SHS exposure. Among active smokers, differences compared to unexposed children were observed in triglyceride levels ( β=8.5 mg/dL, P = .01), the ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein ( β=0.2, P = .045), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( β=-4.1 mg/dL , P = .03), though these did not reach levels of confirmatory statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS After accounting for sociodemographic characteristics and medical comorbidities, serum lipids and markers of systemic inflammation were not associated with SHS exposure. Tobacco smoke exposure in children may require longer durations of compounded effect before serum lipid abnormalities are detected. IMPLICATIONS This paper adds detail to the study of secondhand smoke's effects on lipid profiles of children and adolescents. Prior research on this topic for these age groups has been limited, and this study provides national, cross-sectional data to show that both secondhand smoke and active smoking in childhood and adolescence is not associated with changes in lipid profiles or markers of inflammation. Tobacco smoke exposure may require longer durations of compounded effect before abnormalities are detected.
Primary Care Guide to Routine HIV Testing

HIV/AIDS is a serious, but preventable disease that can have improved outcomes with early diagnosis and treatment. Primary care providers are experts in prevention and early treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that HIV testing be routinely incorporated into health care settings for patients aged 13 to 64 years. There has been much confusion and noncompliance with these recommendations. Primary care providers should understand the rationale behind these latest guidelines as well as their own states’/territories’ regulations and laws around HIV testing to embrace these latest recommendations in order to provide their patients with the best possible care.
Responsive Classroom?: A Critique of a Social Emotional Learning Program.

This paper looks critically at the Responsive Classroom (RC) program, a social/emotional learning program used ubiquitously in elementary schools for teacher and student training, in the US as well as in Australia, the UK, and other parts of Western Europe. The paper examines empirical studies on RC’s efficacy and outcomes, many of which were conducted under the aegis of a single developmental psychology lab and in US schools. The paper critiques the faulty and potentially dangerous assumptions behind these studies, many of which adhere to obsolete ideals about developmentalism and perpetuate a harmful hegemonic positivity. The paper then examines the language and materials published by RC on its Web site, with an eye toward understanding precisely what the curriculum of RC is and what are its potential shortfalls for students and teachers. Finally, the author argues for an incorporation of theory from psychoanalysis and curriculum theory, as well as philosophical critiques of neoliberalism, for evolving ...
Analysis on static performances of smeared cracking model for concrete in ABAQUS

To evaluate the capacity of the smeared cracking model for concrete in the finite element software ABAQUS and analyze the mechanical properties of concrete materials and structural components,the model was adopted to simulate the mechanical properties of the concrete under uniaxial and biaxial stress condition,and the flexural and shear properties of RC structural components.The numerical results were compared with the test data.The results show that the model can simulate the mechanical properties of the concrete material under uniaxial compression,uniaxial tension,biaxial compression,and biaxial tension and compression conditions.And the model can reflect the failure envelope of the concrete material under biaxial stress condition properly.The flexural and shear properties,as well as the typical failure modes of RC structures can also be predicted by the model.However,the model can not predict the mechanical properties of the concrete material under biaxial tension condition,and the development law of the volume strain of the concrete.
The Research Status of Prevention and Control Technology of Rice Leaf Folder

Based on the strategy of giving priority to prevention and synthetically prevention,employing the idea of plant protection,and integrating with the need of plant protection and adopting technical measure,the prevention and control technology of rice leaf folder,which has taken example by successful agricultures in many terms as traditional,modern,organic,ecological and sustainable ones,has used ecological regulation,biological control,and physicochemical deception and control to effectively control host selection behavior of rice leaf folder,ensure grain safety and ecological environment safety in agriculture,thus increase induction and income in the related part.
Solid-state photochemistry of cis-cinnamic acids: a competition between [2 + 2] addition and cis–trans isomerization

With three examples, we have established that cis-cinnamic acids can dimerize via a diradical intermediate in the crystalline state provided that the intermolecular distance is less than 4.2 A. In the excited state of cis-isomers, C–C bond formation with an adjacent molecule competes with geometric isomerization.
The occupational health status of African-American women health care workers.

Race, ethnicity, and gender are significant indicators of occupational status, general health status, and thus, occupational health status. Although African-American women constitute only 6.8% of the total U.S. labor force, they hold 20% of the robs in the health care industry and are disproportionately represented in those jobs that have the highest levels of workplace exposure to hazards. As a result, they are therefore more likely to be at greater exposure and risk to the spectrum of occupational health problems. In order to gain insight into the effects of race and gender on the occupational health status of African-American women health care workers, this article uses three data sources that provide different but complementary sources of information on the demographic characteristics of workers, location of categories of occupations, working conditions of lobs, and other job and worker characteristics. Given the concentration of African-American women in health care positions where there exists a greater likelihood of being exposed to occupational hazards, it is therefore both logical and appropriate for primary care physicians, especially those engaged in office-based practices, to identify this target population for special services and to be more aware of the type of health issues with which these patients are more likely to present and to experience during their working lives. Health care providers have a responsibility to assess occupational factors related to a patient’s health problems and to incorporate this information into their treatment protocols and into the design and explanation of each patient’s care plan.
The Hotelling Rule for Entropy-constrained Economic Growth

Abstract Lozada, Gabriel A. (1995), “xxx”, Ecological Economics, ?: ???–???. The entropy change of the solar system between now and its final heat death is fixed. The time to the heat death is determined by the rate of entropy increase between now and then. If this rate of entropy increase is itself increased by economic activity, then economic activity is generating a negative externality. By internalizing this, a social planner treats the fixed amount of entropy change remaining until the heat death like the stock of an exhaustible resource. This leads to an analysis along the same lines as Hotelling's neoclassical economics of exhaustible resources, forming a partial synthesis between neoclassical economics and Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's “ecological economics” work on the entropy law.
T cell activation and proliferation following acute exercise in human subjects is altered by storage conditions and mitogen selection

Recent work investigating exercise induced changes in immunocompetence suggests that some of the ambiguity in the literature is resultant from different cell isolation protocols and mitogen selection. To understand this effect, we compared post-exercise measures of T cell activation and proliferation using two different stimulation methods (costimulation through CD28 or stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin [PHA]). Further, we investigated whether exercise induced changes are maintained when T cell isolation from whole blood is delayed overnight in either a room temperature or chilled (4°C) environment. As expected, an increased proliferation response was observed post-exercise in T cells isolated from whole blood of previously trained individuals immediately after blood collection. Also, cells stimulated with PHA after resting overnight in whole blood were not adversely impacted by the storage conditions. In contrast, allowing cells to rest overnight in whole blood prior to stimulation through CD28, lessened the proliferation observed by cells following exercise rendering both the room temperature and chilled samples closer to the results seen in the control condition. Changes in early markers of activation (CD25), followed a similar pattern, with activation in PHA stimulated cells remaining fairly robust after overnight storage; whereas cell activation following stimulation through CD3+CD28 was disproportionately decreased by the influence of overnight storage. These findings indicate that decisions regarding cell stimulation methods need to be paired with the timeline for T cell isolation from whole blood. These considerations will be especially important for field based studies of immunocompetence where there is a delay in getting whole blood samples to a lab for processing as well as clinical applications where a failure to isolate T cells in a timely manner may result in loss of the response of interest.
Behavioral Economics for Cost-Benefit Analysis: Benefit Validity When Sovereign Consumers Seem to Make Mistakes

How should policy analysts assess 'benefit validity' when behavioral anomalies appear relevant? David L. Weimer provides thoughtful answers through practical guidelines. Behavioral economists have identified a number of situations in which people appear not to behave according to the neoclassical assumptions underpinning welfare economics and its application to the assessment of the efficiency of proposed public policies through cost-benefit analysis. This book introduces the concept of benefit validity as a criterion for estimating benefits from observed or stated preference studies, and provides practical guidelines to help analysts accommodate behavioral findings. It considers benefit validity in four areas: violations of expected utility theory, unexpectedly large differences between willingness to pay and willingness to accept, non-exponential discounting, and harmful addiction. In addition to its immediate value to practicing policy analysts, it helps behavioral economists identify issues where their research programs can make practical contributions to better policy analysis.
Apnea before NICU Discharge: Does It Matter?

Preterm infants are generally discharged home after resolution of clinically significant apnea, but they may continue to have mild events. We used our automated apnea detection system (Lee, Kattwinkel et.al. 2012) to identify and determine clinical associations with computer-detected apnea events in the week prior to NICU discharge. All bedside monitor waveform and vital sign data were …
Why is Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy (MCGP) effective? Enhanced sense of meaning as the mechanism of change for advanced cancer patients.

Objectives Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy (MCGP) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for improving advanced cancer patients’ quality of life and reducing their depression, hopelessness, and desire for hastened death. To further understand MCGP, this study examined the mechanisms of change in MCGP on these outcomes via advanced cancer patients’ changes of sense of meaning and peace in life. Methods The sample data were from two randomized control trials that compared MCGP (n = 124) to supportive group psychotherapy (n = 94). Mediation effects of treatment status on outcomes (two-month after completion of treatment) via patients’ change of sense of meaning and peace (post-treatment minus pre-treatment) were tested. The outcome variables used in these analyses were quality-of-life, depression, hopelessness and desire for hastened death. Results Significant mediation effects via change of sense of meaning and peace on these outcomes were found. Consistent results were found using intention-to-treated statuses. Weaker, but still significant mediation effects via change of sense of faith on these outcomes were also found. Conclusions Results supported the hypotheses that improvement due to MCGP is mediated by advanced cancer patients’ enhanced sense of meaning. These findings highlight the importance of interventions focused on enhancing sense of meaning, as this appears to be a viable route to improve quality of life and decrease psychological distress among patients with advanced cancer.
The Perspective of Older Men With Depression on Suicide and Its Prevention in Primary Care

Abstract. Background: Suicide rates in older men are higher than in the general population, yet their utilization of mental health services is lower. Aims: This study aimed to describe: (a) what primary care providers (PCPs) can do to prevent late-life suicide, and (b) older men's attitudes toward discussing suicide with a PCP. Method: Thematic analysis of interviews focused on depression and suicide with 77 depressed, low-socioeconomic status, older men of Mexican origin, or US-born non-Hispanic whites recruited from primary care. Results: Several themes inhibiting suicide emerged: it is a problematic solution, due to religious prohibition, conflicts with self-image, the impact on others; and, lack of means/capacity. Three approaches to preventing suicide emerged: talking with them about depression, talking about the impact of their suicide on others, and encouraging them to be active. The vast majority, 98%, were open to such conversations. An unexpected theme spontaneously arose: "What prevents men fro...
Spotlight on Glycolysis: A New Target for Cord Blood Expansion.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a highly valuable but low-quantity source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for life-saving transplantations. Recently in Nature Medicine, Guo et al. (2018) found that antagonism of a glycolysis-blocking pathway enhances ex vivo expansion of long-term HSCs from human UCB.
Inherent Trade-Offs in Algorithmic Fairness

Recent discussion in both the academic literature and the public sphere about classification by algorithms has involved tension between competing notions of what it means for such a classification to be fair to different groups. We consider several of the key fairness conditions that lie at the heart of these debates, and discuss recent research establishing inherent trade-offs between these conditions. We also consider a variety of methods for promoting fairness and related notions for classification and selection problems that involve sets rather than just individuals.
The influence of family factors on time to suicidal ideation onsets during the adolescent developmental period.

Abstract Family factors are associated with suicidal behavior in youth, but little is known about how the joint influence of multiple family factors prospectively predicts onsets of suicidal ideation (SI) in adolescence, a developmental period characterized by increases in SI and risk for suicide. This study investigated whether parent history of SI interacted with either positive or negative parent-child relationship quality to longitudinally predict time to SI onsets during the transition into and across adolescence. Specifically, we used a longitudinal, multi-wave design and survival analyses to examine whether the interaction between these family factors prospectively predicted time to emergence of SI onsets (assessed at 6 month intervals over 3 years) in a community sample of youth ages 8 to 15 (N = 238; 57% girls). Results supported an interaction effect, such that more negative relationship quality with parents predicted earlier emergence of SI among those youth whose parents had no history of SI. However, negative parent relationship quality did not amplify risk among youth with parent history of SI; all youth with a parent history of SI were more likely to experience earlier emergence of SI regardless of level of negative relationship quality. Findings did not support an interaction between low levels of parent-child positive relationship quality and parent history of ideation. Implications for the role of family factors in the etiology and prevention of SI are discussed.
The loss of enzyme activity from erythroid cells during maturation.

It has been known for over thirty years that the activities of certain “age-dependent” enzymes decline during the circulatory life-span of erythroid cell (1). The kinetics of this decay have usually been assumed to be a simple exponential function, that is, occurring continually throughout the life of the cell. In this view, erythrocyte death was often thought to be determined by one or more critical enzymes decaying to a threshold level that was too low to sustain an adequate metabolic rate. Estimates of enzyme half-lives have been calculated from studies that fractionate erythrocytes into groups of different mean cell density (2,3). Although it is clear that red cell density increases with age, numerous recent studies have shown that there is not a simple correlation between age and density (4,5). This is because the major part of the change in density probably occurs very early in maturation, and there appears to be a substantial range of initial density. Density-fractionation and other in vitro methods are therefore unable to resolve cell preparation into fractions of uniform cell age, and cannot provide an accurate picture of enzyme decay.
Philosophy of Ecological Ethics Education, Considering the Issyk-Kul Lake Remediation Mechanisms

It is quite understandable that human factors lie on the basis of the environmental situation decrease alongside with objectively gone global changes factors. Investigations of the environmental state of the Issyk-Kul Lake as any other natural object seem not to be full when limited by drawing the data of only natural sciences.
Task, relationship and work overload stress orientations of Russian and Dutch working adults: does gender make a difference?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the task, relationship and work overload stress orientations of working adults in the high-context cultures of Russia and in the low-context cultures of the Netherlands based on gender. Totally, 438 respondents including 230 Russians and 208 Dutch participants completed Northouse's (2007) style questionnaire and the overload stress inventory survey. Two-way ANOVA methodology is used for hypotheses testing in this research. Gender is a significant factor on the relationship-oriented style but not on the task-oriented style as well as work overload stress perceptions of these respondents. Russian working adults perceived more work overload stress than their Dutch counterparts. The national culture and demographic differences impose constraints on the work overload stress perception of working adults in the Netherlands and Russia. Researchers and scholars can benefit from this study as it provides more empirical results in understanding the impact of gender and cultural factors.
Relating Flow, Mindfulness, Cognitive Flexibility, and Postformal Thought: Two Studies

Based on prior research, there is evidence that suggests a relationship between flow, mindfulness, cognitive flexibility, and postformal thought. In Study 1, 46 undergraduates from Towson University, 12 male and 34 female, with an age range from 18 to 32 participated in this study. Materials consisted of a consent form, a demographic questionnaire, a postformal thought survey, the Short DFS, CAMS-R, CFS, and an additional flow questionnaire developed by Langer. Participants completed a consent form, the two demographic questions, and the remaining surveys. The research design was a correlational study testing the hypothesis that there would be positive linear relationships between flow, mindfulness, cognitive flexibility, and postformal thought. There was a significant relationship between flow, mindfulness, and postformal thought. There was also a significant relationship between mindfulness and cognitive flexibility. In Study 2, 51 undergraduates participated and completed all scales. The goal was to replicate the results of the first study using the same materials. Results were that, with the exception of one correlation, all of our scales were significantly positively inter-correlated. So the significant results of Study 1 were replicated and Study 2 found even stronger associations. Strategies for future research include developing a test that allows individuals to actually engage in flow, mindfulness, and cognitive flexibility rather than simply reflect on and report their propensity to do this.
MIDAS: A Dialog Act Annotation Scheme for Open Domain Human Machine Spoken Conversations.

Dialog act prediction is an essential language comprehension task for both dialog system building and discourse analysis. Previous dialog act schemes, such as SWBD-DAMSL, are designed for human-human conversations, in which conversation partners have perfect language understanding ability. In this paper, we design a dialog act annotation scheme, MIDAS (Machine Interaction Dialog Act Scheme), targeted on open-domain human-machine conversations. MIDAS is designed to assist machines which have limited ability to understand their human partners. MIDAS has a hierarchical structure and supports multi-label annotations. We collected and annotated a large open-domain human-machine spoken conversation dataset (consists of 24K utterances). To show the applicability of the scheme, we leverage transfer learning methods to train a multi-label dialog act prediction model and reach an F1 score of 0.79.
Wavelet-based protoacoustic signal denoising for proton range verification

Protoacoustics, the measurement of the pressure waves emitted by thermal expansion resulting from proton dose deposition, may be used to obtain the depth of the Bragg-peak (BP) by measuring the time-of-flight of the pressure wave. However, using the method in the clinic has a drawback since numerous measured signals were averaged to identify the accurate signal peak from the indistinguishable noises. We proposed a wavelet-based denoising method to significantly reduce noise in collected protoacoustic signals and improve the BP identification accuracy with fewer signal averages. The average 1024 signal, which has been used in the published study, was used as the reference to identify the accurate acoustic location. We used Daubechies (db) 4 wavelet transform to decompose the collected signals to recover the useful protoacoustic signals. Our approach was able to identify the BP signal up to the average 8 signals that correspond to the dose (<1.5 Gy). This denoising technique would be useful for future 2D/3D protoacoustic imaging and make protoacoustic clinically useful for proton range verification.
Rotating Radio Transients

Over the past several years, it has become apparent that some radio pulsars demonstrate significant variability in their single pulse amplitude distributions. The Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs), pulsars discovered through their single, isolated pulses, are one of the more extreme manifestations of this variability. Nearly 70 of these objects have been found over the past several years in archival and new pulsar surveys. In this review, we describe these searches and their resulting discoveries. We then discuss radio timing algorithms and the spin-down properties of the 19 RRATs with phase-connected solutions. The spin-down parameters fall within the same range as other pulsars, with a tendency towards longer periods and higher magnetic fields. Next we describe follow-up observations at radio wavelengths. These show that there are periodic fluctuations in the pulse detection rates of some RRATs and that RRATs in general have similar spectra to other pulsars. X-ray detection has only been made for one RRAT, J1819 1458; observations have revealed absorption features and a bright X-ray nebula. Finally, we look to future telescopes and the progress that will be made with these in characterising and understanding the Galactic RRAT population.
The Legality of the European Central Bank's Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme

The announcement of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) by the European Central Bank on March 18, 2020 marks an unprecedented step in the European history of monetary integration. But it is a commensurate response to the global public health emergency that the COVID-19 outbreak continues to pose as well as the financial and economic shock that it triggered. The legality of the PEPP can be defended in light of both these extraordinary macroeconomic circumstances as well as the European Court of Justice's assessment of previous ECB bond purchase programmes. As this short essay shows, the Court’s Gauweiler and the Weiss decisions have defined the boundaries within which the ECB may design its monetary policy measures. And the PEPP does not transgress these boundaries. However, in order to mitigate the risk of any ex-post legal challenges, the legal act on which the PEPP is based should underscore the following principles, which are informed by the pertinent case law: 1. The PEPP’s objectives are proportional because they address a malfunctioning of the smooth transmission of monetary policy signals across the currency area triggered by the sudden stop of economic activity, thereby undermining the singleness of monetary policy. 2. The PEPP’s design is proportional because it entails the following safeguards: bond purchases are (i) restricted to EUR750 billion, (ii) limited to periods of malfunctioning monetary policy transmission channels, (iii) not selective, (iv) limited to securities with stringent eligibility criteria, and (v) subject to a limited loss-sharing arrangement. 3. The PEPP does not breach the monetary financing prohibition because it (i) has no equivalent effect to bond purchases on the primary markets (due to the safeguards mentioned in 2.) and (ii) does not incentivize Member States pursue unsound budgetary policies.
Caloric compensation and appetite control in children of different weight status and predisposition to obesity

To prevent childhood obesity it is critical to identify behavioral phenotypes for overeating, especially among children who are predisposed to obesity. We examined caloric compensation and appetite control in 212 normal-weight (NW) and obese (OB) children, ages 7 to 9, who were at high risk (HR) or low risk (LR) for obesity based on maternal obesity. In a within-subjects crossover design, children ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in the laboratory once a week for two weeks. Children's percentage compensation index (%COMPX) was computed at breakfast. Twenty-five minutes before breakfast, children received one of two compulsory preloads, which varied in energy density (ED) and caloric content [Low ED (LED): 1.00 kcal/g; 100 kcal; High ED (HED): 1.60 kcal/g; 160 kcal]. Children's appetite was measured hourly using Visual Analog Scales, which were used to compute 3-h post-prandial area under the curve (AUCs) after breakfast and the satiety quotient (SQ), which allows between-group comparisons of a fixed amount of a food's potency to reduce appetite sensations per unit of intake. There were no significant differences in %COMPX, SQ, or AUC among LR-NW, HR-NW, and HR-OB children (P > 0.10). SQs for Hunger and Prospective Consumption were higher and SQ for Fullness lower after consuming the LED compared to the HED preload (P < 0.009). Further, the SQ and AUC for Desire to Eat and AUC for Prospective Consumption significantly predicted energy intake during the remainder of the day (P < 0.03). In this study, HR-NW children did not differ from LR-NW or HR-OB children in their caloric compensation or appetite control. Foods with a high satiating effect may facilitate appetite control and help to moderate daily energy intake in all children, including at-risk children.
Vocal Function Differences Before and After Sorority Recruitment.

Summary Purpose Participation in sorority recruitment often results in acute vocal impairment. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the extent to which voice function and laryngeal appearance may be altered by participation in this social phenomenon. Methods Using a within-participant repeated measures design, nine women participating as sorority recruiters completed the study protocol. The following data were collected at two time points, immediately before and after the completion of two weeks of sorority recruitment: stroboscopic laryngeal imaging, vocal acoustic measures, and perceptual measures of vocal effort and voice quality. Results Perceived phonatory effort and overall severity of voice quality were significantly impaired following sorority recruitment. All participants had evidence of mucosal changes in the form of one or more the following: observed edema, erythema, increased vascularity, glottic margin changes. No significant differences in acoustic measures were identified. Conclusions Increased perceived vocal effort, increased overall severity ratings of voice quality, and deleterious vocal fold tissue changes observed support the hypothesis that the acute vocal loading that is characteristic of the sorority recruitment process contributes to a decline in voice function in the short term. Acoustic measures taken either lacked the sensitivity for the perceived decline in voice function or the participants, who were otherwise healthy, managed to adapt the acoustic signal to the tissue changes observed. The extent to which these acute changes may be mitigated with vocal hygiene and voice training is an area for future study.
Equitable Resilience in Infrastructure Systems: Empirical Assessment of Disparities in Hardship Experiences of Vulnerable Populations during Service Disruptions

AbstractThe objective of this study was to examine social inequality in exposure and hardship experienced by various groups due to infrastructure service disruptions in disasters. After more than t...
Low risk of radiation myelopathy with relaxed spinal cord dose constraints in de novo, single fraction spine stereotactic radiosurgery.

Abstract Background and purpose Spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SSRS) offers high rates of local control in a critical anatomic area by delivering precise, ablative doses of radiation for treatment of spine metastases. However, the dose tolerance of the spinal cord (SC) after SSRS with relation to radiation myelopathy (RM) is not well-described. Materials and methods We reviewed patients who underwent single fraction, de novo SSRS from 2012-2017 and received >12 Gy Dmax to the SC, defined using MRI-CT fusion without PRV expansion. The standard SC constraint was D0.01cc ≤ 12 Gy. Local control was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Bayesian analysis was used to compute posterior probabilities for RM. Results A total of 146 SSRS treatments among 132 patients were included. The median SC Dmax was 12.6 Gy (range, 12.1–17.1 Gy). The SC Dmax was >12 and Conclusion In one of the largest series of patients treated with single fraction, de novo SSRS, there were no cases of RM observed with a median follow-up of 42 months. These data support safe relaxation of MRI-defined SC dose up to D0.01cc ≤ 12 Gy, which corresponds to
Noble-Metal Based Random Alloy and Intermetallic Nanocrystals: Syntheses and Applications.

Precise control over the size, shape, composition, structure, and crystal phase of random alloy and intermetallic nanocrystals has been intensively explored in technologically important application...
Transitive Topic Modeling with Conversational Structure Context: Discovering Topics that are Most Popular in Online Discussions

With the explosive growth of online discussions published everyday on social media platforms, comprehension and discovery of the most popular topics have become a challenging problem. Conventional ...
Improved Performance and Efficiency of Lanthanum–Strontium–Manganese Perovskites Undergoing Isothermal Redox Cycling under Controlled pH2O/pH2

Two-step thermochemical redox cycles represent an attractive pathway toward producing solar fuels via H2O and CO2 splitting. These cycles typically operate at two different temperatures, but isothe...
The Influence of Lifestyle Factors on the Burden of Pediatric Migraine.

There is a gap in patient education and coaching of lifestyle factors related to pediatric migraine, which nurses are in a unique position to fill in order to provide comprehensive care to these patients. In order to help fill this gap, we conducted a targeted review of studies examining migraine and lifestyle factors in children and adolescents. Studies older than 2010, studies examining adults above the age of 18, studies not available in the English language, and secondary sources were excluded from the review. A final sample of 42 studies was included in this review. Lifestyle factors including stress, sleep, obesity, and diet were identified as playing a significant role in increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of migraine attacks in pediatric patients. Based on these findings, a framework is discussed for practical applications of this knowledge by nursing staff working in primary and specialty care clinics.
Remote ID and Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications for Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management

This article presents the results of experiments on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications between two Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) and a ground control station conducted in conjunction with UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Technology Capability Level Four (TCL-4) flight tests. For V2V implementation, two UASs were equipped with Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) radios and experiments were conducted to assess the functionality, capabilities, and limitations of DSRC-based V2V communications. Remote ID is implemented using Globally Unique Flight Identifier (GUFI) assigned to each UAS by the UAS Service Supplier (USS). This article also summarizes the critical issues and recommendations to address them.
Progression of Nonmotor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease by Sex and Motor Laterality.

Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) can start up to a decade before motor manifestations and strongly correlate with the quality of life. Understanding patterns of NMS can provide clues to the incipient site of PD pathology. Our goal was to systematically characterize the progression of NMS in PD (n = 489), compared to healthy controls, HC (n = 241), based on the sex of the subjects and laterality of motor symptom onset. Additionally, NMS experienced at the onset of PD were also compared to subjects with scans without dopaminergic deficit, SWEDD (n = 81). The Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database was utilized to analyze several NMS scales. NMS experienced by PD and SWEDD cohorts were significantly higher than HC and both sex and laterality influenced several NMS scales at the onset of motor symptoms. Sex Differences. PD males experienced significant worsening of sexual, urinary, sleep, and cognitive functions compared to PD females. PD females reported significantly increased thermoregulatory dysfunction and anxious mood over 7 years and significantly more constipation during the first 4 years after PD onset. Laterality Differences. At onset, PD subjects with right-sided motor predominance reported significantly higher autonomic dysfunction. Subjects with left-sided motor predominance experienced significantly more anxious mood at onset which continued as Parkinson's progressed. In conclusion, males experienced increased NMS burden in Parkinson's disease. Laterality of motor symptoms did not significantly influence NMS progression, except anxious mood. We analyzed NMS in a large cohort of PD patients, and these data are valuable to improve PD patients' quality of life by therapeutically alleviating nonmotor symptoms.
Trauma-Informed Care in Schools: A Necessity in the Time of COVID-19

With students having experienced dramatic changes to their lives and perhaps personally experiencing serious illness and death within their immediate or extended families due to the COVID-19 pandem...
Multiple utilities of infographics in undergraduate students’ process-based writing

Although infographics have been used for educational purposes, their specific use for teaching process-based writing in undergraduate writing courses is not documented in the literature. When integrating infographics into a process-based writing instructional approach, they may offer students multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression – universal design for learning principles. We examined one undergraduate writing course that integrated infographics into a process-based writing approach to understand student experiences and uses of this multimodal communication form. Results show that infographics have unique benefits and challenges to supporting student writing. Results also reveal that students used their infographics for revising, transferring, and rethinking the content of their subsequent, text-only research papers. This work has implications for college composition pedagogy.
A Standardized Aframomum melegueta Seed Extract Regulates Browning of White Adipose Tissue in High-Fat Diet Model Mice:

Thermogenesis-mediated energy expenditure is a promising strategy to combat obesity. Aframomum melegueta commonly known as grains of paradise (GP) is a popular spice with medicinal attributes in pr...
Electrochemically Controlled Reversible Formation of Organized Channel Arrays in Nanoscale-Thick RuO2 Films: Implications for Mechanically Stable Thin Films and Microfluidic Devices

Arrays of notched holes were fabricated with shapes that serve to initiate and guide crack formation during electrochemical delithiation of RuO2 films. It is demonstrated that these structures caus...
Codonocarpus alkaloids—III

Abstract The structures of two Lunaria-type alkaloids, codonocarpine and N-methylcodonocarpine, from Codonocarptis australis were established by a series of chemical transformations and spectral studies.
Validation of High Strength Cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Aluminum for Use in Manufacturing Process Design

The wrought 7xxx series aluminum alloys are some of the highest strength aluminum alloys. Historically, cast alloys with similar compositions have not been produced because their long solidification ranges decrease castability and the intermetallics that form during solidification reduce ductility. To develop cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, an understanding of the intermetallic formation is needed. Six experimental Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys were cast under 1 MPa (10 atmospheres) of pressure. Zinc concentrations of 8 and 12wt% and Zn: Mg ratios of 1.5 and 5.5 were produced. Copper was held constant at about 0.9wt%. Thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to determine the solidus, liquids and time at solidus, and to identify the amount, composition and crystal structure of the as-cast intermetallics in the alloys. Thermodynamic modeling, via a CALPHAD method, was also used to predict these parameters. SEM and x-ray diffraction traces revealed that the intermetallics in the alloys were η and T. The volume fraction of these phases increased with zinc content and decreased with Zn:Mg ratio. The results predicted by calculation showed excellent agreement with the identification and amount of phases present. Calculation also accurately predicted the composition of the T phase while there was greater difference between the predicted and measured composition of the η phase. A comparison between the calculated and measured liquidus and solidus and time at solidus showed that the values followed similar trends and the closest predictions were of the liquidus temperatures.
La complejidad de la variación transcultural: valores en Guatemala y Estados Unidos

El presente estudio explora los valores culturales de un grupo de estudiantes universitarios de Guatemala, un pais generalmente descrito como colectivista, comparandolos con estudiantes universitarios de Estados Unidos, un pais descrito como individualista. El estudio explora los valores humanos y las dimensiones horizontales y verticales del individualismo-colectivismo, utilizando distintos metodos de medicion que incluyen ajustes para distintos estilos de respuesta. Contrario a las expectativas, los guatemaltecos no mostraron una mayor preferencia por el colectivismo, pero si una mayor inclinacion por los valores de benevolencia y seguridad. Los participantes estadounidenses no se mostraron mas individualistas y prefirieron el universalismo y el hedonismo. Los resultados sugieren que es necesario estudiar las variaciones interculturales e intraculturales con muestras mas amplias, asi como afinar la definicion conceptual del colectivismo.
Virtual reality in robotics

Computer graphics based "virtual reality" (VR) techniques offer very valuable task visualization aids for planning and previewing robotic systems and tasks, for predicting robotic actions, training robotic system operators, and for visual perception of non-visible events like contact forces in robotic tasks. The utility of computer graphics in robotic operations (in particular, in telerobotic tasks) can be significantly enhanced by high-fidelity calibration of VR images to actual TV camera images. This calibration will even permit the creation of artificial (synthetic) views of task scenes for which no TV camera views are available.
A trace driven study of packet level parallelism

Network processors promise greater flexibility and programmability for routers and switches. They typically process incoming traffic on a packet-by-packet basis. Except for the ordering constraint for packets within the same flow, most packets are independent of each other. Thus, several level of parallelism exists: packet level parallelism (PLP), intra-packet parallelism (IPP), and instruction level parallelism (ILP). Most commercial network processor implementations exploit only PLP. In this paper, we quantify how much PLP really exists. Our results show that blindly adding more processing engines to exploit PLP quickly degrades the utilization ratio. It suggests that IPP and ILP should also be exploited. Furthermore, we show that adding an input reordering buffer is a very effective technique to increase the utilization ratio.
New developments in the isoprostane pathway: identification of novel highly reactive γ-ketoaldehydes (isolevuglandins) and characterization of their protein adducts

The bicyclic endoperoxide prostaglandin (PG) H2 undergoes nonenzymatic rearrangement not only to PGE2 and PGD2, but also to levuglandins (LG) E2 and D2, which are highly reactive γ-ketoaldehydes. Isoprostanes (IsoPs) are PG-like compounds that are produced by nonenzymatic peroxidation of arachidonic acid. PGH2-like endoperoxides are intermediates in this pathway. Therefore, we explored whether the IsoP endoperoxides also undergo rearrangement to form IsoLGs. Oxidation of arachidonic acid in vitro resulted in the formation of abundant quantities of compounds that were established to be IsoLGs by using mass spectrometric analyses. However, the formation of IsoLGs could not be detected in biological systems subjected to an oxidant stress. We hypothesized that this was due to extremely rapid adduction of IsoLGs to proteins. This notion was supported by the finding that LGE2 adducted to albumin at a rate that exceeded that of 4-hydroxynonenal by several orders of magnitude: >50% of LGE2 had adducted within 20 ...