cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Aging and Adult Development Education and Service Learning on Attitude, Anxiety, and Occupational Interest.

This study investigated the effect of a semester-long aging and adult development course that included an intergenerational, service-learning component on attitudes toward older adult men and women, aging anxiety, and interest in occupations that serve older adults among individuals training for careers in healthcare and social services. It also investigated the relationship between quality of intergenerational contact and ageist attitudes as well as differences in attitudes toward older adult men and older adult women. Data collection occurred across two semesters. Participants were 70 undergraduates from healthcare and social service majors. Attitudes improved and aging anxiety declined over the semester; interest in occupations serving older adults did not change. Quality of intergenerational contact was related to attitudes and occupational interest at pre-test and posttest. Implications for teaching as well as service-learning are discussed.
On the Content Predictability of Cooperative Image Caching in Ad Hoc Networks

Emerging applications of mobile data management, such as content-based image retrieval in ad hoc networks, require the awareness of content distribution to enact and optimize the communication and search tasks. Caching is a widely used approach in mobile environments to improve system performance and keep track of replications. Within the scope of mobile and ubiquitous computing infrastructure, traditional caching techniques are not effective for large-size data such as images due to the limitations of bandwidth, storage, and power. The functionality of caching techniques relies on exact match, making them unsuitable for imprecise and similarity-based queries. In addition, the description of cached contents is defined based on the query context instead of data content, which fails to exploit the semantic locality of cached data and makes the traditional caching techniques inefficient in utilizing cache storage. In this paper, we present a semantic-aware caching scheme (SAIC) for image databases in ad hoc networks. The proposed scheme is designed based on several novel ideas: 1) multi-level partitioning of semantic space, 2) constraint-based representation of image semantics, 3) non-flooding query resolution, and 4) adaptive cache consistency maintenance. Our combination of theoretical analysis and simulation show the efficiency of the proposed scheme, and evaluate its performance in comparison against two ad hoc caching schemes as advanced in the literature.
Machine qualification management for a semiconductor back-end facility

In order to process a product in a semiconductor back-end facility, a machine needs to be qualified first by having a product-specific software program installed on it. Then a tool set must be available and attached on the machine while it is processing the product. In general not all machines are qualified to process all products due to the high machine qualification cost and tool set availability. However, the machine qualification decision is very important because it affects capacity allocation in the facility and subsequently affects daily production scheduling. To balance the tradeoff between the machine qualification costs and backorder costs, a product-machine qualification optimization model is proposed in this paper.
Multiple dosing strategies with acetyl L-carnitine (ALCAR) fail to alter age-related hearing loss in the Fischer 344/NHsd rat.

Background The Fischer 344/NHsd rat undergoes age-related, progressive, high-frequency hearing loss beginning at age 12 months. The loss has been linked to defects/death in the outer hair cells related to oxidative stress originating in the mitochondria. Acetyl L-carnitine (ALCAR) is known to enhance mitochondrial bioenergetics and membrane efficiency. Therefore, ALCAR was targeted as a possible pharmacologic intervention to prevent, or even restore, hearing loss from aging.
Effects of a Finite-Width Decision Threshold on Binary CPSK and FSK Communication Systems

The function of the receiver in a binary digital communication system is to make a binary (?space?, ?mark? or ?"0?, ?1?) decision by comparing the signal values from the mark and space filters (or correlators) at known successive time intervals (?bit? or ?baud? time intervals). When the signal value out of the mark filter is greater than that out of the space filter, it is decided that mark or 1 is transmitted, and vice versa. It is of fundamental importance to know the exact instant of time at which the two filter outputs are to be compared. This is the problem of synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver. In this paper, we assume a system that is perfectly synchronized. In a practical system, the difference between the two filter outputs must differ from a threshold by some finite amount in order to cause the device to respond reliably. The examination of the effects of this dead zone (finite-width decision threshold) on digital transmission systems is of important practical interest. Its effects on binary differentially coherent phase-shift-keying, and m-level phase-shift-keying systems have been investigated previously. In this paper we consider its effects on binary coherent phase-shift-keying (CPSK), coherent orthogonal (CFSK), and noncoherent orthogonal (NCFSK) systems. The probability of bit error and the channel capacity of each system is obtained in terms of the dead zone threshold.
Gait Analysis using Independent Components of image motion

We propose a novel approach to gait analysis using the independent components of motion. Our motion representation uses the amount of translation in small image patches. For each subject in the training set, several short image sequences are selected at random. Spatiotemporal independent component analysis (stICA) estimates independent components (ICs) of the training sequences. Given an unknown subject, we compute stIC coefficients for all image subsequences. These coefficients are compared with the training set using the cosine similarity measure. We demonstrate feasibility by using the nearest neighbor to classify the gender of a subject.
Structure and Stress: Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms across Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Previous research into the social distribution of early life depression has yielded inconsistent results regarding the causes and course of subgroup depression disparities. This study examines the topic by analyzing National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data, modeling gender and racial/ethnic differences in early life depression trajectories and investigating the influences of stress and socioeconomic status. Results indicate females and minorities experience elevated depressive symptoms across early life compared to males and whites. SES and stressful life events explain much of the racial/ethnic disparities. Blacks, Hispanics and females show greater sensitivity to the effects of low SES, and in the case of females, SLEs. Overall, this study develops a nuanced, dynamic model of the multiplicative effects of social disadvantage on early life depression disparities.
Dynamic augmentation of generalized Rete networks for demand-driven matching and rule updating

Algorithms for dynamically augmenting an existing Rete network having nonempty partial match memories are described. Two uses of this operation are presented: (1) adding a new pattern to the Rete network where it both shares match nodes with the existing Rete network and matches existing data, and (2) implementing an efficient method of demand-driven pattern matching which makes it possible to match a pattern against existing data when demanded, while keeping that pattern out of the normal Rete pattern matching. The algorithms described are applicable to generalized Rete networks in which arbitrary pattern association is allowed. The tradeoffs involved in the design are discussed, including considerations for compilation. >
SMOS Soil Moisture validation with U.S. in situ networks

Soil moisture products provided by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite were evaluated using in situ observations. The sites are located in different regions of the U.S. and provide replicate sampling of surface soil moisture at the SMOS footprint scale. Data from a sparse network were also considered. Soil moisture products from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer were also used for validation. Results based upon a preliminary version of the retrieval algorithm indicate promising performance. It is anticipated that the accuracy and reliability of the retrievals will improve as validation information is evaluated.
Screening for fall risks in the emergency department: a novel nursing-driven program

INTRODUCTION: Seniors represent the fasting growing population in the U.S., accounting for 20.3 million visits to emergency departments (EDs) annually. The ED visit can provide an opportunity for identifying seniors at high risk of falls. We sought to incorporate the Timed Up & Go Test (TUGT), a commonly used falls screening tool, into the ED encounter to identify seniors at high fall risk and prompt interventions through a geriatric nurse liaison (GNL) model. METHODS: Patients aged 65 and older presenting to an urban ED were evaluated by a team of ED nurses trained in care coordination and geriatric assessment skills. They performed fall risk screening with the TUGT. Patients with abnormal TUGT results could then be referred to physical therapy (PT), social work or home health as determined by the GNL. RESULTS: Gait assessment with the TUGT was performed on 443 elderly patients between 4/1/13 and 5/31/14. A prior fall was reported in 37% of patients in the previous six months. Of those screened with the TUGT, 368 patients experienced a positive result. Interventions for positive results included ED-based PT (n=63, 17.1%), outpatient PT referrals (n=56, 12.2%) and social work consultation (n=162, 44%). CONCLUSION: The ED visit may provide an opportunity for older adults to be screened for fall risk. Our results show ED nurses can conduct the TUGT, a validated and time efficient screen, and place appropriate referrals based on assessment results. Identifying and intervening on high fall risk patients who visit the ED has the potential to improve the trajectory of functional decline in our elderly population. Language: en
Metalla-Derivatives of β-Diketones

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses metalla-β-diketones. The term “metalla-β-diketonate” refers to an anionic diacyl complex, such as LnM (RCO)(R’CO)¯, in which the two acyl ligands occupy adjacent coordination sites of the metal atom. Metalla-β-diketonate complexes are conveniently prepared by reacting acylmetal carbonyl complexes with strong bases that can also react as nucleophiles, such as organolithium, Grignard, or boron hydride reagents. These complexes are readily prepared by the protonation of metalla-β-diketonate anions. The X–ray structures of the boron bromide and boron chloride complexes confirm the tridentate coordination of the triacetylrhenato ligand to the boron atom. Both molecules have crystallographically imposed mirror symmetry. A large number of complexes have been prepared in which metalla-β-diketonate anions coordinate to either metal ions or B(X)(Y) moieties. The most interesting and unique reaction yet discovered for a metalla-β-diketonate molecule is the interligand C–C coupling of the two acyl carbon donor atoms. This very general reaction was discovered serendipitiously while attempting to explore the reaction chemistry of (ferra-β-diketonato) BF2 complexes. Because the acyl ligands in these compounds have hybrid acyl/carbene character, the methyl substituents of the ferra chelate ring should presumably be relatively acidic.
Polymorphonuclear Leucocytes are a Target for Parathyroid Hormone: An Effect on their Random Migration

Defective leukocyte function manifested by impaired migration (1, 2) and reduced phagocytic (3–5) and bactericidal activity (6) has been observed in patients with uraemia. Also, sera from dialysis patients contain a heat stable factor that inhibited granulocyte Chemotaxis (7). The mechanisms and/or the potential uraemic factors underlying these defects in leukocyte functions are not known.
Implementation of an Opportunistic Spectrum Access System with Disruption QoS Provisioning and PU Traffic Parameter Estimation

Opportunistic Spectrum Access (OSA) is one of the models proposed in the literature for Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). Providing disruption QoS in terms of interference caused to the Primary Users (PUs) is crucial in such systems. In this paper, we use a residual idle time based scheme called RIBS, to provide disruption QoS to the PUs. The transmission duration of a Secondary User (SU) is carefully computed such that the interference to the PU remains below a threshold. We propose two disruption Quality of Service (QoS) metrics and show the computation of maximum transmission duration for the two metrics. We have implemented RIBS with these two new disruption QoS metrics using GNU Radio over Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) hardware. We also use maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to dynamically estimate the parameter of PU traffic, which is then used to compute SU transmission duration. This eliminates the requirement, widely assumed in the literature, that SUs know the PU traffic characteristics a priori. Results from our experiments show that RIBS is able to provide the required QoS and that the MLE based parameter estimation method works reasonably well.
Seasonal Oviposition of Northern and Western Corn Rootworms (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Continuous Cornfields

Eight continuous cornfields were sampled for northern (NCR) and western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica barheri Smith & Lawrence and D. virgifera virgifera LeConte, respectively, egg populations beginning the first week of August and continuing at regular intervals through early September. Cumulative oviposition was calculated for both species and regressed on seasonal air and soil heating degree-days and Julian date. Significant regression equations were obtained for both species, separately and combined. No significant differences were found between NCR and WCR seasonal oviposition. The relationship between cumulative oviposition and Julian date provided the best relationship of the independent variables tested. Oviposition was found to be 50% complete by 19 August and 90% complete by 6 September.
Web-based fiber optic communications course

In the last few years, there have been more and more College and University engineering courses appearing on the Web. Most of the instructors producing these Web courses have not only never done so before, they have not even taken or viewed a Web class before. Because of this, it is helpful to share as many details as possible about Web courses actually presented. This paper describes a Web course on fiber-optic communications presented to a class of 55 students at the senior/first-year-graduate level.
Acknowledging the 2015 Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology

Acknowledging the 2015 Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology KRISTIN PETERSON University of California I am exceptionally pleased and deeply honored to accept the Anthony Leeds Prize from the Society of Urban, National, and Transnational/ Global Anthropology. SUNTA has long honored essential work in the study of urbanscapes, political economy, poverty, global capital, and transnationalism. For Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria (Duke University Press, 2014) to be recognized among such stellar ethnographies is a real privilege. Former Leeds Prize awarded books have been recognized for new ana- lytical insights, creative modes of representation, and imaginative con- ceptual terrains. Inspired by much of these works and others, Speculative Markets attempts to ethnographically capture the impetus of pharmaceu- tical capital across Nigerian and transcontinental markets. Grounding the ethnography in Lagos, Nigeria, I focus on drug distribution systems to theorize a market that has been shaped by multiple forces since the 1960s: the Nigerian Civil War, changes in US monetary policy, the turn to speculative capital in the pharmaceutical industry, structural adjust- ment programs administered in African countries, and the immense transformation of urban topologies in Africa’s largest city. What started as a robust, highly profitable pharmaceutical market in the 1970s, ulti- mately crashed in the 1990s and transformed into one that is now home to only a few drug classes of low quality, including a substantial number of fake (intentionally falsified) drugs. The book attempts to account for these dramatic transformations that occurred in a relatively short period of time. Capturing the multiple politics, market dynamics, and changing contours of the city required constructing a multi-scalar ethnography that could thoroughly link the disparate micro ethnographic sphere with a macro political economy. On the one hand, this was relatively easy to do because my interlocutors in Lagos regularly characterized their lives and businesses by indexing Nigerian history and regional market politics in Asia and the Middle East. Thus, I was pushed me to consider the market and Lagos itself as local, regional, and transnational all at once. On the other hand, it was challenging to represent in writing how multiple events happening at dis- parate times converged to give rise to a new transcontinental organiza- tion of pharmaceuticals. These dramatic changes meant that both multinational drug compa- nies and Nigerian pharmaceutical traders faced new market volatilities effecting drug distribution from Asia to West Africa. Indian and Chinese manufacturers are the largest suppliers of pharmaceuticals destined for the Lagos-based, wholesale market, Idumota, which is the main market C 2016 by the American City & Society, Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp. 6–7, ISSN 0893-0465, eISSN 1548-744X. V Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI:10.1111/ciso.12076.
Gasotransmitter delivery via self-assembling peptides: Treating diseases with natural signaling gases

Nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are powerful signaling molecules that play a variety of roles in mammalian biology. Collectively called gasotransmitters, these gases have wide-ranging therapeutic potential, but their clinical use is limited by their gaseous nature, extensive reactivity, short half-life, and systemic toxicity. Strategies for gasotransmitter delivery with control over the duration and location of release are therefore vital for developing effective therapies. An attractive strategy for gasotransmitter delivery is though injectable or implantable gels, which can ideally deliver their payload over a controllable duration and then degrade into benign metabolites. Self-assembling peptide-based gels are well-suited to this purpose due to their tunable mechanical properties, easy chemical modification, and inherent biodegradability. In this review we illustrate the biological roles of NO, CO, and H2S, discuss their therapeutic potential, and highlight recent efforts toward their controlled delivery with a focus on peptide-based delivery systems.
Comparison of reduced angle and fully 3D acquisition sequencing and trajectories for dual-modality mammotomography

A dual-modality SPECT-CT system for dedicated 3D breast cancer imaging is under development. Independent dedicated SPECT and CT imaging systems have been integrated onto a single gantry for uncompressed breast imaging. This study examines challenges and tradeoffs involved in integrating the acquisition procedures of two independent imaging systems into a single imaging protocol. The physical limitation of the rotating CT tube beneath the custom patient bed currently provides only a 294 degree scan with the bed low enough for the breast to be in the cone-beam CT field-of-view. The directly coupled SPECT system is therefore also limited if the scans are to be taken simultaneously or in an interleaved fashion. Thus, geometric phantoms are imaged to characterize image degradations due to reduced projection angles for both modalities. Two different acquisitions were performed: one with the central ray of the CT cone-beam aligned with the system's center of rotation and one offset from the center of rotation by 5 cm. Various sized activity- filled lesions in an anthropomorphic breast phantom were imaged, first with uniform aqueous background activity and then with added acrylic pieces to simulate a non-uniform background. Interleaving the SPECT and CT acquisitions into a single scan was also investigated. Iterative reconstruction algorithms are used to reconstruct the data, and the SPECT and CT images are co-registered. Both the cold rod and breast data indicate that removing 75deg of SPECT azimuth al data does not significantly reduce image quality. CT images were also minimally affected if the cone-beam is centrally aligned with the center of rotation, but degraded with the laterally offset cone-beam setup. In the course of these experiments, the patient bed was reconfigured with a larger central hole covered with flexible neoprene, gaining the ability to rotate completely around the breast and dramatically improving CT projection views through the chest wall.
Should anyone perform percutaneous endoscopic laser diskectomy and percutaneous lumbar disc decompressions

BACKGROUND Increasingly, pain management specialists (P-S) (e.g., anesthesiologists, radiologists, or physiatrists), who are not spinal surgeons, are performing percutaneous endoscopic laser diskectomy (PELD), percutaneous lumbar disc decompression (PLDD), and target percutaneous laser disc decompression (T-PLDD) in patients with minimal/mild disc herniations. Here, theoretically, the laser vaporizes/shrinks a small portion of disc tissue that lowers intradiscal pressure/volume, and thereby provides "symptomatic relief" (e.g., low back pain/radiculopathy). Nevertheless, the vast majority of these patients experience spontaneous relief of their complaints over several months without any intervention. METHODS A literature review revealed that P-S specialists are performing PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD to address minimal/mild disc herniations. However, multiple well-designed studies confirmed that PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD were ineffective for managing acute/chronic pain in these patients. RESULTS Several randomized clinical trials documented the lack of clinical efficacy of PELD/PLDD/T-PLLD procedures over microdiskectomy. PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD correlated with only 60-70% success rates with higher reoperation rates (e.g., up to 38%) vs. 90% success rates for routine microdiskectomy (e.g., with faster recovery and only 16% reoperation rates). Nevertheless, without surgical training, P-S are performing these procedures and are, therefore, unable to adddress perioperative/postoperative PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD surgical complications. CONCLUSIONS Pain management specialists, who are not trained spinal surgeons, should not perform PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD surgery to treat minimal/mild disc herniations. Not only do most of these discs resolve spontaneously over several months but also they are largely ineffective. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the superiority of PELD/PLDD/T-PLDD procedures over microdiskectomy even if performed by spinal specialists.
Class-based statistical machine translation for field maintainable speech-to-speech translation.

Current speech-to-speech translation systems lack any mechanism to handle out-of-vocabulary words that did not appear in the training data. To improve the usability of these systems we have developed a field maintainable speech-to-speech translation framework that enables users to add new words to the system while it is being used in the field. To realize such a framework, a novel class-based statistical machine translation framework is proposed, that applies class-based translation models and class n-gram language models during translation. To obtain consistent labelling of the parallel training corpora, on which these models are trained, we introduce a bilingual tagger that jointly labels both sides of the parallel corpora. On a Japanese-English evaluation system, the proposed framework significantly improved translation quality, obtaining a relative improvement in BLEU-score of 15% for both translation directions.
Age over Fifty-Five Years at Diagnosis Increases Risk of Second Malignancies after Autologous Transplantation for Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Abstract The impact of age at diagnosis on outcomes of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) undergoing autologous hematopoietic transplantation (auto-HCT) is unclear. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of age on outcomes of 310 consecutive patients with relapsed/refractory HL who underwent auto-HCT between January 1996 and December 2010 with carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan conditioning therapy. Patients were stratified into ≤ 55 and >55-year-age groups based on age at diagnosis. At a median follow-up of 80 (range, 1 to 180) months, progression-free survival was similar between both age groups. However, age older than 55 years at diagnosis was associated with significantly poor overall survival with a hazard ratio [HR] of 2.3 (P = .003) from higher rate of second malignancies (HR, 3.8; P = .015) compared with patients 55 years or younger. In conclusion age > 55 years at diagnosis increases risk of second malignancies after auto-HCT.
The First Amendment and the Off-Duty Conduct of Public Employees: Tradeoffs Among Civil Liberties, Agency Mission, and Public Trust

This article examines the dilemmas that public managers face in dealing with controversial off-duty speech and/or organizational affiliations by their employees. While public employees have First Amendment and, often, civil service protections against retaliation from superiors for their off-the-clock conduct, agency executives and managers have disciplined or dismissed employees because of expression and/or group affiliations deemed incompatible with the mission of their agencies. This article examines the pertinent case law, as well as the ethical conflicts over allowing diverse viewpoints in the workforce while at the same time managing organizations that implement policies that have particular purposes that are incompatible with some viewpoints. The possibility that the disciplining of employees, or the failure to discipline them, may affect public trust in government is explored.
Collapsed tetragonal phase transition in LaRu2P2

The structural properties of ${\mathrm{LaRu}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ under external pressure have been studied up to 14 GPa, employing high-energy x-ray diffraction in a diamond-anvil pressure cell. At ambient conditions, ${\mathrm{LaRu}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ (I4/mmm) has a tetragonal structure with a bulk modulus of $B=105(2)$ GPa and exhibits superconductivity at ${T}_{c}=4.1$ K. With the application of pressure, ${\mathrm{LaRu}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ undergoes a phase transition to a collapsed tetragonal (cT) state with a bulk modulus of $B=175(5)$ GPa. At the transition, the $c$-lattice parameter exhibits a sharp decrease with a concurrent increase of the $a$-lattice parameter. The cT phase transition in ${\mathrm{LaRu}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ is consistent with a second-order transition, and was found to be temperature dependent, increasing from $P=3.9(3)$ GPa at 160 K to $P=4.6(3)$ GPa at 300 K. In total, our data are consistent with the cT transition being near, but slightly above 2 GPa at 5 K where superconductivity is suppressed. Finally, we compare the effect of physical and chemical pressure in the R${\mathrm{Ru}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ (R = Y, $\mathrm{La}--\mathrm{Er}$, Yb) isostructural series of compounds and find them to be analogous.
Advocacy through Appearance: An Exploration of Professional Identity, Self-Sufficiency, and the Clothing-Related Non-Profit

Non-profit organizations are often established to address economic and social disparities by providing resources to those in need, with the goal of improving society. The following qualitative study looks to examine the role of the clothing-related non-profit in helping clients develop a professional identity through donated dress. In order to look beyond the short-term goal of getting a job, in-depth interviews were administered to 36 participants. Utilizing the enclothed cognition framework, an understanding of how donated clothing can also be used to foster the skills necessary to build a long-term career was developed. Thus, with the help of the clothing-related non-profit, it is possible that professional dress can be used as a conduit for achieving economic independence. To address this possibility, the study will also explore how developing a professional identity through donated dress can help clients of clothing-related non-profits achieve broader goals of personal and professional self-sufficiency.
Phagocytic, Lambda Light Chain, Plasma Cell Myeloma

A case of phagocytic, lambda light chain, plasma cell myeloma was characterized by its clinical, morphologic, cytochemical, immunologic, and cell kinetic features. A 40-year-old man presented with Coombs-negative hemolytic anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, lytic bone lesions, lambda light chain monoclonal gammopathy, and infiltration of the bone marrow by dysplastic plasma cells, 10% of which demonstrated phagocytosis of erythroid cells. Electron microscopy demonstrated myeloma cells with prominent cytoplasmic microfilaments and erythroid cells in intracytoplasmic vacuoles. The myeloma cells did not phagocytose staphylococci in vitro. Phagocytic and nonphagocytic myeloma cells were tartrate-sensitive, acid-phosphatase positive, alpha-napthyl butyrate esterase negative, and did not form E rosettes or EAox(IgG) rosettes. The tumor cells were Tdt, Ia antigen, and SIg negative. Immunofluorescent staining for cytoplasmic light chains showed a monoclonal lambda pattern in nonphagocytic myeloma cells, and a probable monoclonal lambda pattern in phagocytic myeloma cells. These findings characterize the neoplasm as a monoclonal proliferation of differentiated plasma cells with the capability of erythrophagocytosis. Erythrophagocytosis by myeloma cells may have been responsible for the hemolytic anemia. The tritiated thymidine labeling index (LI%) was high (8%), suggesting a poor prognosis, despite a dramatic initial response to chemotherapy.
Control of strain aging in alpha-iron

The principles of strain aging are described in terms of the Cottrell theory. It is deduced that the practical control of strain aging must come through control of the effective amounts of carbon and nitrogen in solution. Existing control methods such as precipitation through alloying or heat treatment are reviewed and their deficiencies described. Experimental results for a series of alloys containing carbon and nitrogen show that only carbon strain aging can be eliminated by heat treatment. The use of titanium, aluminum, vanadium, and boron as alloying elements for the control of nitrogen strain aging is examined. All of these elements are effective but for economic reasons boron additions appear to offer the most promising practical solution to the problem of nitrogen strain aging in steels.
Monopolistic Competition? The Rise of Brand-Chain Competition and Unresolved Social Questions

Imperfect competition in microeconomics has been known as “Monopolistic Competition” since the near simultaneous release of books by Joan Robinson and Edward H. Chamberlain in 1933. The topic is still taught in economics texts and classrooms to this day, despite little evidence that it now exists in the industrialized world. Oligopolies have moved into this highly competitive field via Brand-Chain Competition. In Brand-Chain Competition, the Oligopoly uses its deep pockets to fund research and development of new products which are sold through brand-names. While the high barriers to entry remain, and the Oligopoly faces little competition from additional firm entry into the industry, entry into a particular product market is rather simple, and highly competitive. Robinson and Chamberlain were correct that economic profits only occur in the short-run due to this high competition. They were incorrect on who the end-game players would be. Rather than massive numbers of sellers, there are massive numbers of brands and few parent corporations. These firms send out a new products via brands, with the intent to earn excess profits only until the competition can produce and market a similar product, which reduces demand for the original firm’s product in the long-run. The brand then responds by releasing a new or improved product from its chain of products, and the short-run begins again. These changes are so new, the social impacts are still a question.
Issues in Pediatric Liver Transplantation

The chapter highlights current challenges in the perianesthetic care of children presenting for liver transplantation. Pediatric liver transplantation is a lifesaving intervention for children with various congenital or acquired acute and chronic liver diseases. The relatively low number of liver transplantations in the pediatric population nationwide presents a challenge to developing and maintaining sufficient knowledge and skills that are mandatory for the successful anesthetic care of these most critically ill patients. The essential information presented can be utilized to facilitate standardization of practice in any institution performing liver transplantation. The details of perianesthetic management include patient evaluation, comorbidities, monitoring requirements, therapeutic interventions, and postoperative care. The intraoperative period consisting of the preanhepatic, anhepatic, and neohepatic stages are each distinct in their anesthetic management. The clinical challenges encountered in liver transplantation demands an in-depth understanding of the unique physiology in order to avoid and appropriately treat any abnormalities that occur during a successful liver transplant.
The Fifth Chapter

[1] And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book, [2] written within and on the backside, [3] sealed with seven seals. [4] And I saw a strong angel preaching with a loud voice: [5] ‘Who is worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof?’ [6] And no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. [7] And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. [8] And one of the elders said unto me: ‘Weep not. [9] Behold, the lion which is of the tribe of Judah, [10] the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’. [11] And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the seat, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders [12] stood a lamb as though he had been killed [13] which had seven horns [14] and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent unto all the world. [15] And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the seat.
Brittle Behavior of a Varved Clay During Laboratory Consolidation Tests

The brittle behavior aspects manifested during laboratory consolidation tests of a varved clay deposited in a glacial lake and thereafter having acquired natural cementation are presented. The effect of the quality of thetest specimens on the shape of the compression curves from one-dimensional consolidation tests employing both incremental and constant rate of strain loading are presented. For good quality test specimens, the compression curves are arithmetically linear up to critical stress values at which breakage of the cement commences. A method is presented for estimating the maximum previous vertical effective stress remembered by the soil fabric of the intact natural state soil when one-dimensional test curves display brittle behavior. When the cement bonds of the natural-state soil are intact, the soil fabric can be underconsolidated or overconsolidated with respect to the existing vertical effective stress. The brittle behavior of the intact natural-state soil is attributed to the behavior of the cement bonds.
Engineering immunomodulatory biomaterials for type 1 diabetes.

A cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D) would help millions of people worldwide but remains elusive to date. Tolerogenic vaccines and β-cell replacement therapy are complementary therapies that seek to address aberrant T1D autoimmune attack and subsequent β-cell loss. However, both approaches require some form of systemic immunosuppression, imparting risks to the patient. Biomaterials-based tools enable localized and targeted immunomodulation, and biomaterial properties can be designed and combined with immunomodulatory agents to locally instruct specific immune responses. In this Review, we discuss immunomodulatory biomaterial platforms for the development of T1D tolerogenic vaccines and β-cell replacement devices. We investigate nanoparticles and microparticles for the delivery of tolerogenic agents and autoantigens and as artificial antigen-presenting cells, and we highlight how bulk biomaterials can be used to provide immune tolerance. We examine biomaterials for drug delivery and as immuno-isolation devices for cell therapy and islet transplantation and explore synergies with other fields for the development of new T1D treatment strategies. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the destruction of pancreatic β-cells, which results in an insulin deficiency. In this Review, the authors discuss immunomodulatory biomaterials for β-cell replacement and for the induction of tolerogenic immune responses to prevent, delay or reverse the disease.
An Exploration of Using Virtual Reality to Assess the Sensory Abnormalities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sensory abnormalities are prevalent among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Precise and objective assessment of sensory processing is important for ASD diagnosis and intervention. Traditionally, the assessment is done through psychological interviews, observations, and questionnaires. While these methods have important diagnostic utility, they are subject to biases and have limited resolution. Therefore, we explored the potential of using VR, which provided objective measurements and a higher observation resolution, to assess the sensory processing differences between children with ASD and typically developing (TD). For this pilot investigation, we focused on visual and touch processing. The system can record real-time behavioral data in high temporal and spatial resolutions. An experimental study was conducted with six children with ASD and six TD children aged 11-17 years old. Results showed that the system could reveal sensory differences between these two groups. Strong and moderate correlations were observed between the system's detection and that of the most commonly used standardized psychological assessment questionnaire of sensory processing.
Seroprevalence and risk factors of Brucella ovis in domestic sheep in Wyoming, USA.

Brucella ovis causes a sexually transmitted, infectious disease of domestic sheep characterized by genital lesions and epididymitis in rams, placentitis and rare abortions in ewes, and neonatal mortality in lambs. This study was designed to 1) estimate animal and flock seroprevalence of B. ovis in sheep across Wyoming, USA, and 2) describe epidemiologic risk factors associated with seropositive sheep and flocks. For the animal seroprevalence estimate, 2423 blood samples were collected from sheep on 18 producer-selected operations and a questionnaire about possible risk factors was distributed. For the flock seroprevalence estimate, blood samples from 82 operations were obtained, including samples from the previous 18 operations and 64 additional operations that sent samples to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for diagnostic testing. Categorical risk factors were created based on questionnaires and submission forms. Sera was analyzed using the B. ovis enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Estimated true animal and flock seroprevalence were 0.53% (95% CI: 0.21–1.01%; 22/2,423) and 22.5% (95% CI: 14–32%; 18/82), respectively. Using Fisher’s exact and Mid-p exact tests to compare apparent seroprevalence with respect to possible risk factors, increased age and breed type were risk factors associated with seropositive sheep, while region and large flock size were risk factors associated with seropositive flocks. Results from this study suggest few sheep have been exposed to B. ovis, but many flocks contain at least one seropositive animal. Each region in Wyoming contained at least one seropositive animal and flock, emphasizing the importance of disease-free documentation before purchasing new sheep. Aged sheep (≥ 6 years of age) had the highest seroprevalence among age groups; hence, we propose the separation of young rams from older rams to help reduce disease spread outside the breeding season. Wool breeds (Rambouillet and Merino) may be less susceptible to B. ovis infection given they had the lowest animal seroprevalence of the breed types, and large flocks (> 100 breeding rams) had the highest seroprevalence of the flock size categories, likely due to more intensive management strategies that can contribute to the introduction and persistence of B. ovis infection in sheep and flocks.
Genetic variation and prediction of additive and nonadditive genetic effects for six carcass traits in an Angus-Brahman multibreed herd

Estimates of covariances and sire expected progeny differences of additive and nonaddi- tive genetic effects for six carcass traits were obtained using records from 486 straightbred and crossbred steers from 121 sires born between 1989 and 1995 in the Angus-Brahman multibreed herd of the University of Florida. Steers were slaughtered at a similar carcass composition end point. Covariances were estimated by REML procedures, using a generalized expectation-maximization algorithm applied to mul- tibreed populations. Straightbred and crossbred esti- mates of heritabilities and additive genetic correla- tions were within ranges found in the literature for steers slaughtered on an age- or weight-constant basis for hot carcass weight, longissimus muscle area, and shear force but equal to or less than the lower bound of these ranges for fat-related traits. Maximum values of interactibilities (i.e., ratios of nonadditive variances to phenotypic variances in the F1) and nonadditive genetic correlations were smaller than heritabilities and additive genetic correlations in straightbreds and crossbred groups. Sire additive and total direct genetic predictions for longissimus muscle area, marbling, and shear force tended to decrease with the fraction of Brahman alleles, whereas those for hot carcass weight and fat thickness over the longissimus were higher, and those for kidney fat were lower in straightbreds and F1 than in other crossbred groups. Nonadditive genetic predictions were similar across sire groups of all Angus and Brahman fractions. These results suggest that slaughtering steers on a similar carcass composition basis reduces variability of fat-related traits while retaining variability for non-fat-related traits comparable to slaughtering steers on a similar age or weight basis. Selection for carcass traits within desirable (narrow) ranges and slaughter of steers at similar compositional end point seems to be a good combination to help produce meat products of consis- tent quality.
Common age-related neuropathologies and yearly variability in cognition.

Objective Cognitive variability is a potentially important source of heterogeneity in longitudinal cognitive profiles. We examined the extent to which common age-related neuropathologies including Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease (AD) contribute to yearly variability in late life cognition. Methods Data came from 1321 community-dwelling older adults who were followed annually for up to 23 years, died and underwent brain autopsy. Cognition was assessed via a comprehensive testing battery. Uniform neuropathologic evaluations assessed burdens of Lewy bodies, AD, infarcts, TDP, hippocampal sclerosis, amyloid angiopathy, atherosclerosis, and arteriolosclerosis. Using mixed effects models, yearly variability in cognition, characterized as within-person variability of annual cognitive scores, was regressed on the nine neuropathologic indices. Results The average age of decedents was 90 years and 69% were female. At autopsy, about two thirds met the pathologic criteria for AD. Neocortical Lewy bodies were present in 13% of the individuals. Other neuropathologic conditions also were common. All neuropathologic indices except for microinfarcts were associated with cognitive decline. Individuals with neocortical Lewy bodies had almost twice the yearly variability in cognition compared to those without. Individuals with AD had about 70% more variability compared to those without. Yearly variability was present among persons with vascular diseases but to a lesser degree than neocortical Lewy bodies and AD. Interpretation Lewy body pathology is associated with pronounced variability in annual cognitive assessments but this finding is not unique to this pathology. Comparable variability is present among persons with AD pathology and to a lesser extent among persons with cerebrovascular pathologies.
Energy Storage, Grid Integration, Energy Economics, and the Environment

The book covers energy storage systems, bioenergy and hydrogen economy, grid integration of renewable energy systems, distributed generation, economic analysis, and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. The overall approaches are interdisciplinary and comprehensive, covering economic, environmental, and grid integration issues as well as the physical and engineering aspects. Core issues discussed include mechanical, electrical, and thermal energy storage systems, batteries, fuel cells, biomass and biofuels, hydrogen economy, distributed generation, a brief presentation of microgrids, and in-depth discussions of economic analysis and methods of renewable energy systems, environmental impacts, life-cycle analysis, and energy conservation issues. With several solved examples, holistic material presentation, in-depth subject matter discussions and self-content material presentation, this textbook will appeal strongly to students and professional and nonprofessional readers who wish to understand this fascinating subject. Readers are encouraged to solve the problems and questions, which are useful ways to understand and apply the concepts and the topics included.
How to Engage Nursing Students in Health Policy: Results of a Survey Assessing Students' Competencies, Experiences, Interests, and Values.

Preparing nursing students to engage in health policy is critical to ensuring the nursing workforce can influence the structure and financing of health care. The purpose of this study was to assess...
On the red supergiant problem

We examine the problem of estimating the mass range corresponding to the observed red supergiant (RSG) progenitors of Type IIP supernovae. Using Monte Carlo simulations designed to reproduce the properties of the observations, we find that the approach of Davies & Beasor (2018) significantly overestimates the maximum mass, yielding an upper limit of Mh/Msun=20.5+/-2.6 for an input population with Mh/Msun=18. Our preferred Bayesian approach does better, with Mh/Msun=18.6+/-2.1 for the same input populations, but also tends to overestimate Mh. For the actual progenitor sample and a Salpeter initial mass function we find Mh/Msun=19.01-2.04+4.04 for the Eldridge et al. (2004) mass-luminosity relation used by Smartt et al. (2009) and Davies & Beasor (2018), and Mh/Msun=21.28_-2.28+4.52 for the Sukhbold et al. (2018) mass-luminosity relation. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate that these are overestimated by 3.3+/-0.8Mh. The red supergiant problem remains.