cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Real Estate Cycles: Theory and Empirical Evidence

Real estate markets perform cyclically. The cycles affect both the output and the absorption of units, and they influence the prices and rents of both existing properties and new construction. Expectations for rent increases and the time to start and continue construction are central to the structure of real estate cycles. When participants underforecast rent increases, serially correlated unexpected excess returns trigger construction even if contractors distinguish between relative and nominal price changes. Prices in real estate markets depend on the behavior of the cycle, which in turn affects production and prices. The findings for multifamily housing in Phoenix and Tucson, for example, suggest that cycles are characterized by upside and downside lengths of three years.
Exploring The effects Of An online asynchronous mindfulness meditation intervention with nursing students On Stress, mood, And Cognition: A descriptive study.

Summary Background Nurses returning to school while working, raising families, and maintaining other roles, can experience stress, mood changes and cognition disturbance that negatively impact their academic success. Objectives To explore the effect of an online mindfulness meditation intervention with distance nursing students on stress, mood and cognition. Design A 24 week descriptive study. Settings An 8 week online intervention was offered to all undergraduate and graduate nursing students, of three nursing programs of a middle-sized university in mid-Atlantic US. Participants A total of 26 nursing students completed the study. Methods An 8 week online, asynchronous mindfulness intervention was provided through the learning management system with a 16 week follow-up. Outcomes measures: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Attention Network Test (ANT). Results Stress was significantly reduced (F(2,24) = 4.163, p = .019). A decreasing trend for anxiety was noted with significant difference between time points (F(1,23) = 6.889, p = .015) when practice frequency was weekly to daily. Cognition: ability to shift attention, attention selection, concentration, and accuracy improved. Conclusion Findings from this study may illuminate the usefulness of a mindfulness based stress reduction program offered to distance nursing students. Further studies are needed to better demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention.
Unilateral Lower Limb Focal Myositis

Focal myositis is a rare inflammatory myopathy characterised by a localised swelling of skeletal muscle that is usually located in the lower extremities. It can be readily confused with tumours or other inflammatory diseases and around one hundred cases are described in the global literature. Focal myositis presents as a mass localised to a single skeletal muscle that may be painless or tender to the touch and that appears after growing insidiously over several weeks to months. The mass is usually located in the lower extremities and the muscles most commonly affected include the adductor, vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius. It can rarely occur in muscles of the head and neck region. We report a case of a 60 year old, female patient who developed swelling in calf muscle without the history of trauma. She came with a painful swelling appearing on the right lower limb, growing progressively in the last 10 days, followed by a spontaneous moderate local pain, getting worse on movement. MRI showed a diffuse high signal intensity in the right gastrocnemius muscle, images revealed oedematous changes in adjacent soft tissues and signs corresponding to myositis. The collective findings were consistent with a diagnosis of focal myositis. Appropriately, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory therapy with physical therapy was performed. A physical examination performed 14 days after initiation of the treatment, revealed improvement in tenderness and pain.
The Cost of Facial Deformity: A Health Utility and Valuation Study

ImportanceThe impact of facial defects on quality of life as perceived by society and the value society places on facial reconstruction are important outcomes measures. ObjectiveTo measure the heal...
Improving cerebellar segmentation with statistical fusion

The cerebellum is a somatotopically organized central component of the central nervous system well known to be involved with motor coordination and increasingly recognized roles in cognition and planning. Recent work in multi-atlas labeling has created methods that offer the potential for fully automated 3-D parcellation of the cerebellar lobules and vermis (which are organizationally equivalent to cortical gray matter areas). This work explores the trade offs of using different statistical fusion techniques and post hoc optimizations in two datasets with distinct imaging protocols. We offer a novel fusion technique by extending the ideas of the Selective and Iterative Method for Performance Level Estimation (SIMPLE) to a patch-based performance model. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm, Non-Local SIMPLE, for segmentation of a mixed population of healthy subjects and patients with severe cerebellar anatomy. Under the first imaging protocol, we show that Non-Local SIMPLE outperforms previous gold-standard segmentation techniques. In the second imaging protocol, we show that Non-Local SIMPLE outperforms previous gold standard techniques but is outperformed by a non-locally weighted vote with the deeper population of atlases available. This work advances the state of the art in open source cerebellar segmentation algorithms and offers the opportunity for routinely including cerebellar segmentation in magnetic resonance imaging studies that acquire whole brain T1-weighted volumes with approximately 1 mm isotropic resolution.
Supramolecular stabilization of N(2)H(7)(

The cation N(2)H(7)(+) has been stabilized in a largely hydrophobic supramolecular environment and characterized in the solid state. The cation is situated in the bowl-shaped cavity of calix[4]arene. All of the hydrogen atoms are clearly discernible owing to high-quality X-ray data as well as lack of disorder and symmetry-imposed ambiguity. It appears that electrostatic interactions play a critical role in stabilizing the structure.
Drone Strikes and Grand Strategy: Toward a Political Understanding of the Uses of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Attacks in US Security Policy

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes the political utility of US drone strikes theoretically and deductively. Placing strikes within the context of the theorized political functions of force and considering how they fit into two grand strategies, restraint and selective engagement, I argue that these strikes buy the United States relatively little in the way of political effects assuring its own security because the terrorism threat they are intended to combat is a limited one within the skein of US global interests. Furthermore, their contribution to counter-terrorism efforts is likely to diminish with the adoption of armed drones by non-state actors. Drone strikes can, however, provide leverage over recalcitrant US client states while reassuring liberal partners and giving them some leverage over US choices. In addition, within the counter-terrorism sphere, drone strikes are less likely to inflame popular opinion than are alternative uses of force. This analysis contributes to an increasingly rigorous examinat...
Variability: A Tuning Headache

Performance tuning is an ongoing activity at most HPC sites. Small performance improvements can save thousands of dollars. Run-to-run performance variations significantly impact performance tuning. Not being able to tell which code version is faster (or more energy efficient) in a single run greatly increases the computational expense and uncertainty for theprogrammer. We will show examples where autotuning frameworks could easily choose a sub-optimal kernel. We will also examine the difficulty optimizing a real-world HPC application.
Emissions from ISM Sources

AbstractThis paper reviews the present state of regulations for interference from ISM equipment. Roles of various international agencies on interference and the effects of changing the limits on ISM equipment manufacturers are discussed. Frequencies and levels of emission measured from various types of ISM equipment are given.
Local Casimir energies for an annulus

Abstract The local Casimir energy density for a massless scalar field associated with step-function potentials in a 3 + 1 dimensional spherical geometry is considered. The potential is chosen to be zero except in an annulus of thickness δ, where it has height h, hδ = 1. In the limit of zero thickness, an ideal δ-function shell is recovered. The behavior of the energy density as the surface of the annulus is approached is studied in both the strong and weak coupling regimes. The former case corresponds to the well-known Dirichlet shell limit. New results, which shed light on the nature of surface divergences and on the energy contained within the annulus, are obtained in the weak coupling limit. In that case, the energy has a contribution not only from the local energy density, but from an energy term residing entirely on the surface. It is shown that the latter coincides with the integrated local energy density within the annulus. We also study the dependence of local and global quantities on the conformal parameter. In particular new insight is provided on the reason for the divergence in the global Casimir energy in third order.
HPV Vaccine–Related Knowledge, Beliefs, Acceptability, and Uptake Among Latinas Who Prefer English and Those Who Prefer Spanish

Latinas compose almost 10% of the U.S. population and suffer the highest incidence of and one of the highest mortality rates from cervical cancer. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination can prevent most HPV infections that cause more than 90% of cervical cancer. Unfortunately, limited knowledge and low rates of HPV vaccination persist among Latinas. The current study compared awareness, knowledge, beliefs, acceptability, uptake, and 3-dose series completion of HPV vaccination between Latinas who prefer English (EPL) and those who prefer Spanish (SPL), ages 18–62, living in Southern California. (The 3-dose series completion was based on HPV vaccine completion guidelines at the time of the study. HPV vaccination guidelines do change over time to improve coverage.) More EPL (n = 57) than SPL (n = 150) reported significantly (a) more HPV vaccine awareness and more knowledge of where to access the vaccine and additional vaccine information and (b) greater endorsement of vaccine effectiveness and safety (p < .0...
Ultrasound Diagnosis of Renal Angiomyolipoma

Renal angiomyolipomas (AML) are hamartomas, only half of which are found in patients with tuberous sclerosis. More important clinically, because less often suspected, are angiomyolipomas in patients without tuberous sclerosis.
Barriers to equality: why British fathers do not use parental leave

ABSTRACTIn 2011, the UK passed the Additional Paternity Leave (APL) policy, but less than 1% of eligible fathers took APL in its first year. This study investigates reasons for nonuse of APL. We find four main reasons: financial costs, gendered expectations, perceived workplace resistance, and policy restrictions. First, most fathers emphasized the role of finances in their leave decisions, sometimes taking annual leave for their second week because statutory pay was not enough. Second, both mothers and fathers largely assumed that mothers would take longer maternity leave due to gender differences in earnings and a greater emphasis on maternal over paternal bonding. Third, fathers felt that their workplaces would not be fully supportive of longer leave. Fourth, APL provides low pay and little flexibility. Gender plays a prominent role in each of the four themes. We discuss implications for Shared Parental Leave (SPL), which recently went into effect. Based on our findings, SPL is unlikely to be effective.
Quantitative Analysis of Basic Motile Behavior in Amoeboid Cells

Abstract Basic motile behavior, i.e., motility in the absence of chemoattractant is intrinsic to most cells that chemotax in response to an appropriate signal. However, basic motile behavior is seldom experimentally analyzed prior to evaluation of chemotactic efficiency in mutant, diseased or metastatic cells and this oversight may lead to erroneous conclusions. The fact is, a cell that is defective in basic motile behavior is likely to exhibit reduced chemotactic efficiency although its chemotactic signal transduction pathways may not be impaired. In this chapter, we describe simple methods to quantify basic cell motility in a variety of cell types so that distinctions can be made between altered basic cell motility on one hand and impaired chemotaxis on the other.
Practitioners and Research: First Questions:

To a practitioner whose services are a multifaceted variable, research may be a challenge to his philosophic base, treatment competence, and ethical sense
Cylex ImmuKnow Cell Function Assay

The use of immunosuppression in solid organ transplantation is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Monitoring trough immunosuppression levels alone in transplant recipients is insufficient to gauge the suppression of immune responses. The ImmuKnow Immune Cell Function Assay (Cylex, Inc., Columbia, MD, USA) has been developed to measure the activity of CD4+ T cells as a marker of global immune-competence. The changes in T cell activation were correlated with the relative risk of rejection and infection. However, the most significant utility of the ImmuKnow test, in combination with other clinical parameters, is to identify immune-compromised patients and to help to tailor individualized immunosuppression regimens.
Phase Transitions in Nonequilibrium Systems: Dye Lasers and Lasers with Saturable Absorbers

Since the pioneering work of Graham and Haken, and of Lamb, Scully and DeGiorgio developing the analogy between lasers near threshold and second-order transitions in systems at thermal equilibrium, nearly a hundred papers have been published which use or expand upon this idea. In 1975, Sargent, Cantrell, and the present author extended this approach to show that lasers with saturable absorbers behaved as mathematical analogs to equilibrium systems with first- order phase transitions, complete with latent heats (or their analogs) and bistability. The latter aspect — bistability — is of course now an important specialty in optics in its own right and has provided renewed attention to these rather simple theories. In the present paper we review the work along these lines since 1975 and suggest some possible new extensions, in particular, to analogs of the Pippard relationship for phase transitions in equilibrium systems.
2000 Qubit D-Wave Quantum Computer Replacing MCMC for RBM Image Reconstruction and Classification

Restricted Boltzmann Machines trained by the classical Contrastive Divergence algorithm were embedded into a next generation D-Wave quantum computer having more than 2000 qubits. The embedding was used to sample missing visible units and labels of incomplete test images. The previously introduced RBM embedding that combined qubits into individual RBM units in order to increase the connectivity between units was used. In comparison to the 1000 qubit machine investigated earlier, the same embedding approach applied to the 2000 qubit D-Wave enabled a connectivity between RBM units sufficient for RBM training on a classical computer with a satisfactory classification error. After a varied number of CD training iterations, the visible units corresponding to a particular incomplete test image were fixed in the D-Wave embedding. The resulting state returned by the D-Wave represents the most energetically favorable combination of the remaining qubits for the given fixed incomplete input image. The classification errors compared favorably to those obtained by the classical MCMC sampling. Main factors influencing the quality of the embedding were investigated. Regardless of the computational cost incentives for using the D-Wave for this operation, the reconstruction and classification errors determined in this way can be used at least as a verification of the validity and quality of the particular embedding of the given RBM architecture. This is essential for successfully employing a QC in much more computationally demanding parts of the RBM training. opportunities for using QC not only for recognition but especially for RBM training, in particular for obtaining a representative sample from the RBM model distribution, are discussed.
Association of Age-related Macular Degeneration With Mortality in Patients With Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Role of Systemic Inflammation.

Purpose To evaluate the relationships among age-related macular degeneration (AMD), mortality, and biomarkers of systemic inflammation in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Design Case-control study. Methods In participants with intermediate-stage AMD at enrollment in the Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (LSOCA) and 2:1 controls matched for age and sex, cryopreserved baseline plasma specimens were assayed for biomarkers of inflammation, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, interferon-γ inducible protein (IP)-10, soluble CD14 (sCD14), soluble CD163 (sCD163), kynurenine/tryptophan (KT) ratio, and intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP). Main outcome measure was mortality. Results The study included 189 patients with AMD and 385 controls. In the unadjusted analysis, AMD was associated with mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02, 2.15; P = .04). In an adjusted analysis, CRP (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.08, 1.71; P = .009), IL-6 (HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.11, 1.90; P = .006), and IP-10 (HR 1.41; 95% CI 1.08, 1.84; P = .01) were associated with mortality. In a Cox regression analysis adjusted for human immunodeficiency virus load, blood CD4+ T cell level, CRP, IL-6, and IP-10, the association of AMD with mortality was attenuated (HR 1.08; 95% CI 0.73, 1.59; P = .70), primarily by the addition of the inflammatory biomarkers. Conclusions These data suggest that the increased mortality observed in patients with AIDS with AMD is, at least in part, a result of systemic inflammation.
Community, love, and culture: pedagogical insights for Black students in White spaces

To address the tension between public education norms and the lived experiences of racially marginalized students, this study examines how Brother to Sister (BTS), a community group, promotes sense...
Non-Model Based Expansion from Limited Points to an Augmented Set of Points Using Chebyshev Polynomials

Expansion of measured dynamic response at a limited set of points is of great interest in the study of structural dynamic systems. Measurements at limited points on a structure can be expanded to unmeasured points by using System Equivalent Reduction Expansion Process (SEREP). However, a finite element model is required to obtain the mode shapes of the system. In this work, a non-model based expansion technique is proposed to expand the vibration characteristics at a sparse set of points to a much larger set of points without the use of a finite element model. Shape functions based on orthogonal polynomials can be used to decompose the deformation of vibrating structures into the summation of a set of shape functions with corresponding weighting coefficients. To obtain the vibration characteristics at an augmented set of points, measurements at a sparse set of points can be related to a set of shape functions which have the same mesh resolution as the sparse configuration. The vibration characteristics at an augmented set of points can then be reconstructed from the shape functions of the high resolution and scaled shape function weighting coefficients of the sparse configuration. Only a sparse set of measurements, geometry and coordinates of measured points are needed. In the work studied here, an analytical plate and a Base-Upright (BU) structure are used as samples to study the application of the proposed method. Both analysis and experiment are used to prove the concept.
Prevalence and factors associated with suboptimal peak inspiratory flow rates in COPD.

Purpose Adequate peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR) is required for drug dispersion with dry powder inhalers (DPIs). Prevalence of PIFR discordance (suboptimal PIFR with prescribed inhalers) and factors influencing device-specific PIFR are unclear in COPD. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of PIFR discordance and associated clinical factors in a stable COPD population. Patients and methods An observational, single-center, cohort study was conducted including 66 outpatients with COPD. PIFR was measured using the In-Check™ Dial with applied resistance of prescribed inhalers. Participants were defined as discordant if measured PIFR was <30 L/min and <60 L/min for high and low-medium resistance devices, respectively, using an inspiratory effort the participant normally used with their prescribed DPI. Results The median age of the COPD participants was 69.4 years, 92% were white and 47% were female. A total of 48% were using low-medium resistance DPIs (Diskus®/Ellipta®) and 76% used high-resistance DPI (Handihaler®). A total of 40% of COPD participants were discordant to prescribed inhalers. Female gender was the only factor consistently associated with lower PIFR. Shorter height was associated with reduced PIFR for low-medium resistance (r=0.44; P=0.01), but not high resistance (r=0.20; P=0.16). There was no correlation between PIFR by In-Check™ dial and PIFR measured by standard spirometer. Conclusion PIFR is reduced in stable COPD patients, with female gender being the only factor consistently associated with reduced PIFR. Discordance with prescribed inhalers was seen in 40% of COPD patients, suggesting that many COPD patients do not generate adequate inspiratory force to overcome prescribed DPIs resistance in the course of normal use.
Mycobacterial SigA and SigB Cotranscribe Essential Housekeeping Genes during Exponential Growth.

ABSTRACT Mycobacterial σB belongs to the group II family of sigma factors, which are widely considered to transcribe genes required for stationary-phase survival and the response to stress. Here we explored the mechanism underlying the observed hypersensitivity of ΔsigB deletion mutants of Mycobacteriumsmegmatis, M. abscessus, and M. tuberculosis to rifampin (RIF) and uncovered an additional constitutive role of σB during exponential growth of mycobacteria that complements the function of the primary sigma factor, σA. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq), we show that during exponential phase, σB binds to over 200 promoter regions, including those driving expression of essential housekeeping genes, like the rRNA gene. ChIP-Seq of ectopically expressed σA-FLAG demonstrated that at least 61 promoter sites are recognized by both σA and σB. These results together suggest that RNA polymerase holoenzymes containing either σA or σB transcribe housekeeping genes in exponentially growing mycobacteria. The RIF sensitivity of the ΔsigB mutant possibly reflects a decrease in the effective housekeeping holoenzyme pool, which results in susceptibility of the mutant to lower doses of RIF. Consistent with this model, overexpression of σA restores the RIF tolerance of the ΔsigB mutant to that of the wild type, concomitantly ruling out a specialized role of σB in RIF tolerance. Although the properties of mycobacterial σB parallel those of Escherichiacoli σ38 in its ability to transcribe a subset of housekeeping genes, σB presents a clear departure from the E. coli paradigm, wherein the cellular levels of σ38 are tightly controlled during exponential growth, such that the transcription of housekeeping genes is initiated exclusively by a holoenzyme containing σ70 (E.σ70). IMPORTANCE All mycobacteria encode a group II sigma factor, σB, closely related to the group I principal housekeeping sigma factor, σA. Group II sigma factors are widely believed to play specialized roles in the general stress response and stationary-phase transition in the bacteria that encode them. Contrary to this widely accepted view, we show an additional housekeeping function of σB that complements the function of σA in logarithmically growing cells. These findings implicate a novel and dynamic partnership between σA and σB in maintaining the expression of housekeeping genes in mycobacteria and can perhaps be extended to other bacterial species that possess multiple group II sigma factors.
Presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in raw source water and treated drinking water

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a very large problem throughout the world. The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is a major public health issue. Aquatic ecosystem is a significant source for ARB and ARGs. The drinking water treatment system is designed specifically to eliminate bacteria and pathogens in drinking water. The presence of ARB and ARGs in source water and drinking water may affect public health and it is an emerging issue in drinking water industry. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the presence of ARB and ARGs in a source water, treated drinking water (finished water), and in the distribution line (tap water) in a rural water treatment plant in Louisiana. The results showed the presence of several ARB in the source water including, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus and Bacillus spp. However, the water treatment plant effectively removed these bacteria in the treated water as none of these bacteria were found in the tap water as well as in the finished water at the water treatment plant. Bacterial DNA including 16s rRNA and ARGs of sulfonamides and tetracycline antibiotics were observed in raw water. The presence of 16s rRNA was found consistently in every month of sampling in raw water, finished water, and tap water. This suggests that the filtration system at the treatment plant was ineffective in filtering out small fragments of bacterial DNA. Also, the possibility of the presence of biofilms in the water pipeline exists, which may develop antibiotic resistance due to the selective pressure of chlorination in drinking water.
Management of Furcation Defects

Management of teeth with furcation involvement (FI) is challenging for the clinician. The greater the grade of FI, the more difficult it becomes to treat. Also, the grade of FI affects the prognosis and limits the patient’s ability to maintain. Adequate case selection and analysis of risk factors are fundamental for successful treatment of teeth with FI. In addition, the restorative and endodontic status needs to be considered to avoid future complications. Despite the aforementioned difficulties in the treatment of FI, multiple therapeutic modalities to treat teeth with FI have been utilized over the years in the field of periodontology including resective therapy, open flap debridement (OFD), guided tissue regeneration (GTR), use of biologic agents and plasma concentrates (PCs), endoscope, laser therapy, antimicrobials, and local delivery of statins. Diverse success and survival rates have been reported in the literature with variability among the different techniques.
Placing the state in the contemporary food regime: uneven regulatory development in the Dominican Republic

This paper interrogates the role of the state in the contemporary food regime and argues that it is best understood as the outcome of uneven regulatory development. This concept centers the ways th...
Structural and Functional Abnormalities in Early-stage Diabetic Retinopathy.

To evaluate the relationship between microperimetric (MP) sensitivity and retinal thickness measured at co-registered retinal locations in individuals who have mild or no diabetic retinopathy.Fifty...
A World Changed: What Post-9/11 Stories Tell Us about the Position of America, Purpose of Business, and Meaning of Work

The 9/11 terrorist attacks manifested change in the world around us and caused many people to reevaluate their work and lives. Nearly two decades later, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see th...
Soils of the Lake Erie Coastal Zone

Lake Erie is the fourth largest (25,667 km2), shallowest (19 m), and southernmost (41°26′N) of the Great Lakes. The Lake Erie shore is comprised entirely dolomitic limestone rocks and supports temperate broadleaved forest. Soils along the Lake Erie shore occur on geomorphic surfaces from the Warren, Whittlesey, and Maumee lake stages and are, therefore, are among the oldest (13.8 kyr) in the Great Lakes basin.
Direct correlation of single particle motion to amorphous microstructural components of semicrystalline poly(ethylene oxide) electrolytic films

Semicrystalline polymers are an ubiquitous class of materials incorporated into everyday life, and their functional properties are contingent on their structure over a hierarchical range of length scales. By correlating micro- and nano- structural crystalline and amorphous components of lithium triflate doped PEO thin films with fluorescent single particle trajectories, we find that crystalline fibers anisotropically constrain probe transport without altering the intrinsic diffusivity of probes. Our findings suggest controlled and periodic arrangement of crystalline fibers is a promising design principle for mass transport in semicrystalline polymers that enables the requisite mechanical stability for device applications.
Patterns of Sitting, Standing, and Stepping After Lower Limb Amputation

Objective The objectives of this study were to describe sitting, standing, and stepping patterns for people with lower limb amputation (LLA) and to compare sitting, standing, and stepping between people with dysvascular LLA and people with traumatic LLA. Methods Participants with dysvascular or traumatic LLA were included if their most recent LLA was at least 1 year earlier, they were ambulating independently with a prosthesis, and they were between 45 and 88 years old. Sitting, standing, and stepping were measured using accelerometry. Daily sitting, standing, and stepping times were expressed as percentages of waking time. Time spent in bouts of specified durations of sitting ( 90 minutes), standing (0-1, 1-5, and > 5 minutes), and stepping (0-1, 1-5, and > 5 minutes) was also calculated. Results Participants (N = 32; mean age = 62.6 [SD = 7.8] years; 84% men; 53% with dysvascular LLA) spent most of the day sitting (median = 77% [quartile 1 {Q1}-quartile 3 {Q3} = 67%-84%]), followed by standing (median = 16% [Q1-Q3 = 12%-27%]) and stepping (median = 6% [Q1-Q3 = 4%-9%]). One-quarter (median = 25% [Q1-Q3 = 16%-38%]) of sitting was accumulated in bouts of > 90 minutes, and most standing and stepping were accrued in bouts of Conclusions Participants had high daily volumes of long durations of sitting. Further, these individuals accumulated most physical activity in bouts of Impact High levels of sedentary behavior and physical inactivity patterns may place people with LLA at greater mortality risk relative to the general population. Interventions to minimize sedentary behaviors and increase physical activity are potential strategies for improving poor outcomes of physical therapy after LLA.
Dare the Discipline(s) to Build a New Academy: The Future of Kinesiology and Health in Higher Education: National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education 40th Dudley Allen Sargent Commemorative Lecture 2021

In the 40th Annual Dudley Allen Sargent Lecture, I dared the field of kinesiology with its various subdisciplines to be at the center of systematic and individual change in the values, behaviors, a...
The Association between QuantiFERON-TB Gold Test and Clinical Manifestations of Uveitis in the United States

Purpose To report the prevalence of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) positivity among uveitis patients compared to general population and to evaluate the differences in clinical features of uveitis. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods:Setting Institutional. Patient Population 418 consecutive new uveitis patients, regardless of clinical suspicion, were tested for QFT-G. Observation Procedures Demographics, TB risk factors, clinical characteristics of uveitis were collected. Main Outcome Measures The frequency of QFT-G positivity among uveitis patients and characteristic clinical features among QFT-G positive patients. Results QFT-G positivity was found in 60/418 patients with uveitis (14.4%, 95% CI: 11.18 – 18.14) higher than the general US population (5%, 95% CI: 4.2 – 5.8, p .05 for each). Prevalence of TB-uveitis based on treatment response was 1.19%. Conclusions Our study demonstrates significantly higher prevalence of QFT-G positivity among uveitis patients compared to average US population. Characteristic signs of TB uveitis reported in endemic countries were not seen in this cohort. Implications of higher prevalence of QFT-G positivity among uveitis patients require further investigation.
Endocannabinoids and Precision Medicine for Mood Disorders and Suicide.

Diagnostic precision, prediction and prevention of psychiatric disorders, including major unipolar depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide ideation and attempts, remain underdeveloped areas in psychiatry given a general lack of biomarker assessment in the field. This makes the unmet goal of developing a precision medicine for these debilitating conditions an urgent necessity of neuropsychopharmacology research. Precision medicine, defined as “an emerging approach for treatment and prevention that takes each person's variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle” into account (1), will permit choosing the right treatment for the right person at the right time based on a unique individual neurobiologic biosignature. Indeed, it is anticipated that biomarker discovery will tremendously enhance refinement of individualized medicine that currently rely on subjective symptom assessment based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-V). Both depression and PTSD are highly prevalent conditions affecting 3.4–12% of the general population and one of the main causes of disability. In the United States, pre-Covid suicide rates have increased by 25–30%, (from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000). These disorders share a number of symptoms and are highly comorbid. MDD is characterized by sadness, anhedonia, disturbed concentration, while PTSD symptoms include avoidance of traumatic memories, hyperarousal, hyperreactivity, flashbacks and nightmares. Antidepressant treatment with SSRIs (the gold standard for PTSD and depression) improves symptoms to about half of patients (2). Developing reliable biomarkers entails the promise of predicting the best treatments for subjects that are more likely to respond to an individually-designed rather than to a “one-fit-all” treatment. Biomarker discovery will also enhance diagnostic evaluation of patients who suffer from psychiatric disorders that share a large symptom overlap and prevalent disorder comorbidity. In recent years, several novel biomarker candidates for mood disorders have been suggested [reviewed in (3)]. The endocannabinoid system has received much interest owing its role in several physiological and pathophysiological functions, including regulation of emotional behavior, cognitive processes, inflammation, chronic pain, epilepsy, and in general, its role underlying neuropsychiatric disorders (4, 5). This opinion article will focus on the intriguing role of the endocannabinoid system in the regulation of affective disorders, specifically on major depressive disorders, PTSD and suicide behaviors. Furthermore, it will analyze whether data gathered in this exciting area of psychiatric research entails new leads in establishing novel biomarkers for these debilitating and prevalent psychiatric conditions that affect millions worldwide.
Family Recovery

This paper describes the recovery process of families of people with severe mental illnesses. The paper describes the phases of family recovery and useful interventions by phase with the family by professionals. The recovery process of people with serious mental illnesses has been well documented but that of the family has been neglected. Hopefully, this paper will generate further research into the impact of serious mental illnesses on family members.
Synthesis of stable Cu-MCM-41 nanocatalysts for H2 production with high selectivity via steam reforming of methanol

Abstract High surface area MCM-41 containing copper catalysts (with different loading from 5 to 20 wt%) were synthesized using one-pot procedure for steam reforming of methanol (SRM) studies. A variety of techniques including BET, XRD, TGA-DSC, TEM, EDX, ICP-OES, H2-TPR, N2O chemisorption and EPR were used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of catalysts. Structural characterization by means of XRD and BET revealed that %Cu loading has a strong influence on the ordered structure and the textural properties of the Cu-MCM-41 catalysts. The BET surface area of MCM-41 decreased from 1039 to 662 m2/g with increase in Cu loading from 0 to 15 wt% and then dropped to 314 m2/g with the loss of ordered structure at 20 wt% loading. The chemical composition analyses of catalysts using ICP-OES and EDX showed that the intended amount of copper was successfully retained in MCM-41 during one pot synthesis. Steam reforming of methanol for hydrogen production was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 200–350 °C. The effect of %Cu loading, reaction temperature, CH3OH/H2O molar ratio, reactants space velocity, catalyst time on-stream on the catalytic activity and selectivity were investigated. The Cu-MCM-41 samples showed excellent catalytic performance for the SRM reactions. The best results were obtained with 15%Cu-MCM-41 which showed ∼89% methanol conversion, 100% H2 selectivity and CO selectivity of 0.8% at 300 °C and 2838 h−1 GHSV. However, methanol conversion decreased to about 77% when the loading of Cu was increased to 20 wt%. This can be attributed to more than 50% decrease in catalyst surface area leading to decrease in Cu-dispersion. The catalyst with 15 wt% loading showed strong resistance to deactivation and maintained consistent performance over a time on-stream for 48 h, indicating that the use of high surface area MCM-41 support significantly enhanced the stability of Cu-based catalyst.
Long-term acute care : A review of the literature

Long-term acute care (LTAC) represents a rapidly growing category of Medicare providers, but little is known about its quality, outcomes, and cost-effectiveness. Its defining characteristic, as set by Medicare, is an average length of stay of greater than 25 days. Modern LTAC emerged in the early 1980s as a setting for the weaning of ventilator-dependent patients. The industry has developed greatly in the last few years, with for-profit corporations dominating the field, and as Medicare expenditures have grown, new payment systems have emerged to limit spiraling costs. Although LTAC is mainly known for providing chronic ventilator weaning, the case mix is varied. The majority of outcome studies in this setting have been done on pulmonary patients, with fewer data available on nonventilator patients. This article analyzes studies of LTAC that are currently available, discusses some of the public policy issues surrounding this level of care, and suggests a research agenda, including a role for the field of geriatrics.
Two Element Chaotic and Hyperchaotic Circuits

The goals of this work are twofold: one is to illustrate the use of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for emulating circuit elements with memory (memristors, memcapacitors and meminductors). The second goal is to use the FPGA emulation to realize two element chaotic and hyperchaotic circuits. Such circuits utilize fully nonlinear models of memory devices in series-parallel configuration.
Piloting an online grocery store simulation to assess children's food choices.

Public health interventions must address poor diet among U.S. children, but research is needed to better understand factors influencing children's food choices. Using an online grocery store simulation, this research piloted a novel method to assess children's snack selection in a controlled but naturalistic laboratory setting, evaluate predictors of choice, and experimentally test whether promotions on food packages altered choices. Children (7-12 years, N = 61) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: promotions on healthy products; promotions on unhealthy products; and no promotions (control). They selected from a variety of healthy and unhealthy foods and beverages and rated all products on healthfulness and taste. Promotions on food packaging did not affect snack selection in this study, but findings supported our other hypothesis that perceived taste would be the strongest predictor of food choice. Children accurately rated product healthfulness, but these ratings did not predict healthy snack choices or taste ratings for healthy or unhealthy snacks. These results suggest that interventions to improve children's food choices should focus on increasing availability of healthy options and identifying opportunities to enhance children's liking of healthy options. However, nutrition education alone is unlikely to improve children's diets. Further testing is required, but the simulated online grocery store method shows potential for measuring children's food choices.
Controlling crystallization to improve charge mobilities in transistors based on 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene

Long-range order at multiple length scales in small molecule semiconductors is critical to achieve effective electrical charge transport. As a consequence, processing strategies are often important for the fabrication of high-performance devices, such as thin-film transistors. We demonstrate that melting followed by quenching at a fixed temperature can obviate prior processing, control the crystallization process, and lead to enhanced charge mobilities in thin-film transistors based on 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene active layers. Melting followed by quenching to 80 °C yields films with higher degrees of orientational order, and therefore charge mobilities in devices that are higher by a factor of five over films annealed at the same temperature directly after film casting.
Optimizing the Noticing of Recasts via Computer‐Delivered Feedback: Evidence That Oral Input Enhancement and Working Memory Help Second Language Learning

This study investigates whether practice with computer-administered feedback in the absence of meaning-focused interaction can help second language learners notice the corrective intent of recasts and develop linguistic accuracy. A group of 218 beginning Anglophone learners of Spanish received 1 of 4 types of automated feedback (no feedback, utterance rejection, recasts, or enhanced recasts) in the written mode or the oral mode, in response to noun-adjective gender or number agreement errors. For both modalities, written and oral posttests conducted up to 2 months after treatment revealed that recasts yielded more target-like production and learner repair than either no feedback or utterance rejection and that utterance rejection was in turn more effective than no feedback. Two factors were found to increase the effectiveness of computer-delivered recasts: oral, but not typographical, input enhancement (orally enhanced recasts were more beneficial than orally unenhanced and typographically enhanced recasts) and working memory (higher span learners were superior to lower span learners in all recast groups). We discuss the implications of our results for the area of error treatment as an instructional focus technique and suggest avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Electrical stimulation of the hippocampus and electroconvulsive shock produce similar amnestic effects in mice

Abstract Using several measures of conditioning, mice receiving Foot-Shock only or Foot-Shock followed by stimulation of the cortex showed almost complete suppression of responding when retested 24 hr later. Animals receiving Foot-Shock followed by ECS or by stimulation of the hippocampus showed significant deficits in the retention of the punished response. ECS, hippocampus stimulation, or cortical stimulation, in the absence of Foot-Shock had no effect on retest behavior. The results suggest that interference with hippocampal activity may be sufficient to account for typical effects of ECS on memory consolidation.
An Assessment of Incentive Versus Survey Length Trade-offs in a Web Survey of Radiologists

Background: It is generally understood that shorter Web surveys and use of incentives result in higher response rates in Web surveys directed to health care providers. Less is known about potential respondent preference for reduced burden as compared to increased reward. Objective: To help elicit preference for minimized burden compared to reward for completion of a survey, we observed physician preferences for shorter Web surveys compared to incentives as well as incentive preference (small guaranteed incentive compared to larger lottery incentive) accompanying an electronic request to complete a survey. Methods: This was an observational study that accompanied a large Web survey study of radiology staff, fellows, and residents at select academic medical centers in the United States. With the request to complete the survey, potential respondents were offered three options: (1) a 10-minute Web survey with the chance to win an iPad, (2) a 10-minute Web survey with a guaranteed nominal incentive ($5 amazon.com gift card), or (3) a shorter (5-7 minute) Web survey with no incentive. A total of 254 individuals responded to the Web survey request. Results: Overwhelmingly, individuals chose a longer survey accompanied by an incentive compared to a shorter survey with no incentive (85% compared to 15%, P <.001). Of those opting for an incentive, a small, but not significant majority chose the chance to win an iPad over a guaranteed $5 gift card (56% compared to 44%). Conclusions: When given the choice, radiologists preferred a reward (either guaranteed or based on a lottery) to a less burdensome survey, indicating that researchers should focus more attention at increasing perceived benefits of completing a Web survey compared to decreasing perceived burden. [J Med Internet Res 2013;15(3):e49]
Hybrid silicon micro-cavity light source on silicon-on-diamond substrate

We review hybrid silicon microring lasers built on silicon-on-insulator substrate and their thermal performance bottleneck. A low-loss silicon-on-diamond (SOD) substrate as the thermal solution and hybrid microring devices on SOD are discussed.
Patterns in Gender-Related Perceptions: Mothers' Work History, Personal Attributes, and Feminist Orientation:

Perceptions of mothers' work history (temporal patterns, reasons why mothers worked or did not work outside the home) were examined in relation to 153 male and 188 female college students' self-reported personal attributes and feminist orientation. Men, more than women, reported their mothers had not worked and had wanted to be full-time homemakers. Women more frequently recalled that then-mothers had worked full time and were more likely to attribute mothers' not working to their husbands' objections. Respondents' personal attributes or (feminist) values were unrelated to their perceptions of their mothers' work patterns, but some were associated—differentially for daughters and sons—with reported reasons their mothers worked or did not work.