cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Statement Verification for Science: Theory and Examining Technical Adequacy of Alternate Forms

ABSTRACTWhile curriculum-based measurement (CBM) tools for screening decisions in reading, mathematics, and written language have been well examined, tools for use in content areas (e.g., science and social studies) remain in the beginning stages of research. In this study, two alternate forms of a new CBM tool (Statement Verification for Science; SV-S), for screening decisions regarding students’ science content knowledge, is examined for technical adequacy. A total of 1,545 students across Grades 7 (N = 799) and 8 (N = 746) completed two alternate forms of SV-S concurrently with a statewide high-stakes test of accountability. Promising results were found for reliability, in particular internal consistency, while results related to evidence of criterion- and construct-related validity were less than desired. Such results, along with additional exploratory analyses, provide support for future research of SV-S as a CBM tool to assist teachers and other educators with making screening decisions.
Predicting Liver Allograft Discard: The Discard Risk Index.

BackgroundAn index that predicts liver allograft discard can effectively grade allografts and can be used to preferentially allocate marginal allografts to aggressive centers. The aim of this study is to devise an index to predict liver allograft discard using only risk factors available at the time
Acoustic microscopy of portland cement mortar aggregate/paste interfaces

We have demonstrated the use of acoustic microscopy tocharacterize hydrated Portland cement microstructure. Highfrequency (1 GHz) studies identified reaction zones aroundbubbles, ettringite formation, and effects of aggregatecomposition. Lower frequency images (200–400 MHz) have been used to characterize effects of aggregate composition oncement/grain interface. The information obtained fromacoustic microscopy complements optical and scanningelectron microscopy. We demonstrate the importance ofacoustic microscopy as an important nondestructive in situtechnique for characterization of concrete. A major, uniqueadvantage of the scanning acoustic microscope technique isits capability of penetrating into the material, whichallows us to study cracks, defects and other zones ofweakness that might be hidden below the surface.
Frederick Douglass’s Prophecies of Abolition: World Literature and the Black Romantic Man of Letters

Frederick Douglass’s citations of British Romantic poets have recently attracted the attention of scholars working in two modes of Black Studies: transatlantic literary history and political theory...
Strategic Informed Trading and Dark Pools

We analyze how a large informed trader chooses between a lit exchange and a dark pool. We show that (1) the market share of the dark pool increases when the informed trader trades; (2) the market share of the dark pool increases more when the value of information is higher; and (3) price discovery decreases with the value of information. We find empirical support for these predictions using trades from activists reported in Schedule 13D filings. A one-standard-deviation increase in the value of an activist’s information increases the dark pool’s market share by 5.8% and reduces price discovery by 9.7%.
Genomics and high-consequence infectious diseases: a scoping review of emerging science and potential ethical issues.

Host genomic research on high-consequence infectious diseases is a growing area, but the ethical, legal, and social implications of such findings related to potential applications of the research have not yet been identified. While there is a robust ethical debate about the ethical, legal, and social implications of research during an emergency, there has been less consideration of issues facing research conducted outside of the scope of emergency response. Addressing the implications of research at an early stage (anticipatory ethics) helps define the issue space, facilitates preparedness, and promotes ethically and socially responsible practices. To lay the groundwork for more comprehensive anticipatory ethics work, this article provides a preliminary assessment of the state of the field with a scoping review of host genomic research on a subset of high-consequence infectious diseases of relevance to high-level isolation units, focusing on its ethically relevant features and identifying several ethical, legal, and social implications raised by the literature. We discuss the challenges of genomic studies of low-frequency, high-risk events and applications of the science, including identifying targets to guide the development of new therapeutics, improving vaccine development, finding biomarkers to predict disease outcome, and guiding decisions about repurposing existing drugs and genetic screening. Some ethical, legal, and social implications identified in the literature included the rise of systems biology and paradigm shifts in medical countermeasure development; controversies over repurposing of existing drugs; genetic privacy and discrimination; and benefit-sharing and global inequity as part of the broader ecosystem surrounding high-level isolation units. Future anticipatory ethics work should forecast the science and its applications; identify a more comprehensive list of ethical, legal, and social implications; and facilitate evaluation by multiple stakeholders to inform the integration of ethical concerns into high-level isolation unit policy and practice.
“It’s Just a Lot Different Being Male Than Female in the Sport”: An Exploration of the Gendered Culture Around Body Pressures in Competitive Figure Skating

Figure skaters experience pressure associated with their sport to change their body weight, shape, or size to meet appearance and performance expectations. Figure skaters may experience different b...
The Phenomenon of Magnetic Pairing and Exactly Soluble Models of Magnetic Resonances

The quantum mechanical charge-dipole and dipole-dipole interactions between elementary particles are considered. The incorrectness and difficulties of the standard perturbative treatment is shown. The nonperturbative treatment not only resolves these difficulties, but shows the existence of new type of resonance states which have far-reaching applications in nuclear and particle physics.
Dairy waste-to-energy incentive policy design using Stackelberg-game-based modeling and optimization

Abstract This article addresses the optimal design of waste-to-energy incentive policy for the dairy sector that aims to promote dairy farms’ adoption of on-farm anaerobic digesters and combined heat and power units to generate biomass-based energy. A modeling framework based on the single-leader-multiple-follower Stackelberg game is developed, where the government is the leader and the dairy farms are independent followers. The leader has two conflicting objectives, minimizing total government intervention, including total negative and positive cash flows of the government, and minimizing its unit cost on generating a target amount of bioelectricity. The government determines a bioenergy incentive policy consisting of subsidy on bioelectricity generation, refund of capital investment and dairy manure disposal fee, under a bioelectricity generation target. The dairy farms should react to the policy and maximize their net present values independently by making decisions on anaerobic digestion adoption and biogas-to-energy conversion technology selection. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer bilevel fractional program, and it is solved efficiently using a tailored global optimization algorithm which integrates a parametric algorithm and a projection-based reformulation and decomposition algorithm. A case study on hundreds of the largest dairy farms in New York State is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed modeling framework and solution algorithm. Computational results show that incentive policies can effectively promote bioelectricity generation, and the refund of capital investment to a farm is 499% to 768% higher compared to the subsidy on bioelectricity generation. Additionally, the minimum government intervention to double the anaerobic-digestion-based bioelectricity generation is $11.8 million.
A polynomial matrix processing heuristic algorithm for finding high quality feasible solutions for the TSP

In this paper we present a simple heuristic algorithm to find high-quality, feasible solutions, for the traveling salesman problem (TSP). We hypothesize, that the quality of the initial solution provided by the proposed heuristic will improve the performance of the subsequent algorithm in terms of number of iterations required to reach a certain level TSP solution. The proposed heuristic does not attempt to compete against known TSP algorithms and heuristics, but instead, should be considered to serve as a “pre-processor”. The method provides a simple framework for testing new node selection and neighborhood rules. The cost matrix of origin and destination pairs is processed in a systematic way starting from a principal diagonal matrix element to find a feasible TSP tour. The matrix reduction, systematic moves in rows and columns, systematic elimination of rows and columns from further consideration, and the “reserved” column declaration, assure that the resulting sequence of nodes and edges forms a complete TSP tour. The process can be repeated from each principal diagonal element. The best TSP tour found can then be used, for example, as an input to another algorithm (e.g. the TABU search, simulated annealing, ant colony optimization, nearest neighbor, or another heuristic) to attempt to improve the tour further. It should be noted, that the proposed technique can also be used for testing of presence of cycles of a proposed solution provided by another algorithm. While the goal of the heuristic algorithm is to attempt to find the optimum tour, optimality cannot be guaranteed.
Method for identifying the triple transition (glass transition-dehydration-crystallization) of amorphous cellulose in cotton

Abstract Although having a full picture of the heat-induced alterations in the fine structure of cellulosic materials is essential for designing their thermal processing, there have been no reliable methods to identify thermal transition temperatures. This study shows that colorimetric, thermogravimetric, and thermal kinetic parameters were sensitive to the thermochemical and thermo-structural changes in cotton fiber at low temperatures. Among these parameters, the activation energy for the thermal decomposition, evolving two local maxima against the preheating temperature, identified sequential thermal transformations in amorphous cellulose: 1) glass transition at 160–180 °C (Tg), 2) cellulose dehydration at 200–220 °C, and 3) crystallization at 240–260 °C. These results indicated that results of the mechanical tests or other methods discussed in the literature, which have produced inconsistent and higher Tg values (200–240 °C) for cellulosic materials, might have been misled by the dehydration of amorphous cellulose.
How I do it: contralateral supraorbital approach for tuberculum sellae meningioma.

The resection of tuberculum sellae meningiomas poses a challenge particularly when dealing with the medial aspect of the optic nerve. Dissection of the tumor off the optic nerve is usually carried out in the blind spot “behind” the optic nerve. We describe a contralateral approach for asymmetric tuberculum sellae meningiomas, allowing direct visualization of the medial optic nerve. Contralateral lateral supraorbital approach was performed, and complete tumor resection was achieved without any injury to the optic nerve. The contralateral approach for asymmetric tuberculum sellae meningioma is an efficient technique allowing improved visualization of the medial optic nerve.
Machine Learning-based Wait-time Prediction for Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand Systems

The development of more sophisticated autonomous course-determination mechanisms for Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand systems is an active area of research and development. In the case of traditional ridesharing systems, there are various factors to be considered such as efficient use of vehicular assets, minimizing passenger wait times and selecting course of travel. In this paper we consider the use of machine learning to aid the selection of a destination that is predicted to result in a lower wait time until the next rideshare ride request will occur in the vicinity of a trip’s destination. We draw upon a real-world ridesharing dataset to build and evaluate predictive machine learning models to provide an exploratory analysis of the utility of this approach to destination selection and demonstrate promising performance.
Hybrid cord blood banks may be advantageous for scientific as well as economic reasons

Background & Aim BACKGROUND AND AIM: Public cord blood banks have thresholds for accepting cord blood unit (CBU) collections for processing based on economic models developed using surrogate markers of suitability, i.e. volume and total nucleated cell count (TNCC). Only after processing has it been possible to look at CD34+ cell numbers and colony forming units (CFU). Since as few as 0.52 × 105 CD34+ cells can be expanded in vitro and used successfully for transplant, it is important to understand what is in the smaller collections that public bank guidelines currently prevent from being processed. Hybrid public/private cord blood banks permit economic support from the private bank to help support the public bank. They also offer an opportunity to evaluate products outside public banking thresholds because all collections are processed. AIM To present data from the first 72 private cord blood unit (CBU) collections processed for the Cord Blood Bank of Arkansas, showing the relationship between collection volume, TNCC and CD34+ cell numbers. Methods, Results & Conclusion METHODS: The CBBA is a hybrid bank, providing cord blood banking for public, private and research use. Parents are informed of the different options for banking available, document their informed consent, and then receive a collection kit to bring to the delivering obstetrician. Cord blood is collected with the placenta in utero using Pall model # 791-08 collection kits. Collections are processed within 72 h of collection at a central site with plasma and red cells removed. Pre-processing TNCC are performed with a Beckman Coulter Ac.T Diff2 cell counter and TNCC determined as follows: actual cord blood weight x WBC 103/100=TNCC. Flow cytometry is performed using the ISHAGE technique with a Beckman Coulter CytoFLOW. RESULTS Mean maternal age for CBU was 34y (range 26-45). Of 72 CBU donated (37 male, 35 female), delivery route was spontaneous vaginal for 50 (69.45%) and caesarian section for 22 (30.55%). Mean birth weight was 3341.5 g (median 3355; range 2296-4337). Mean gestational age was 38.92 weeks (median 39; range 36-41.14). CONCLUSION Data on hematopoietic potential of low volume/low TNCC products are currently available only from a hybrid or private bank. Here we show that CBU below threshold TNCC and volume for public banks can have a significant number of CD34+ cells available for expansion and use in transplant.
A comparison of two non-radioactive alternatives to wire for the localization of non-palpable breast cancers

Multiple wire-free technologies for localization of non-palpable breast cancers have emerged as satisfactory alternatives to wire. However, no study has compared two non-radioactive wire-free approaches to one another. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes among LOCalizer™ radiofrequency identification (RFID), SAVI Scout® (SAVI), and wire localization (WL). This was a retrospective, cross-sectional cohort study of patients undergoing lumpectomy for non-palpable breast cancer at a single institution between August 2017 and February 2019. Patients were divided into three cohorts based on localization technique: RFID, SAVI or WL. Operative times and average tumor volumes were compared using one-way analysis of variance. Positive margin and re-excision rates were compared with Fisher’s exact test. Among 104 patients who underwent lumpectomy for non-palpable breast cancer, 33 patients (31.7%) had RFID, 21 (20.2%) had SAVI, and 50 (48.0%) had WL. Operative times were 79 min for RFID, 81 min for SAVI, and 78 min for WL (p = 0.91). Volume of tissue resected was 36.3 cm3, 31.7 cm3, and 35.3 cm3 for RFID, SAVI, and WL, respectively (p = 0.84). Positive margin rates (RFID 3.0% vs SAVI 9.5% vs WL 8.0%, p = 0.67) and re-excision rates (RFID 6.1% vs SAVI 9.5% vs WL 10.0%, p = 0.82) were similar across groups. Wire-free localization technologies have been compared to WL demonstrating similar efficacy. Our study suggests that RFID and SAVI Scout also perform similarly to one another. Physicians and institutions may consider more nuanced features of each localization system rather than performance alone when choosing a wire-free alternative.
Contextual Moderators of a School-Based Ethnic-Racial Identity Intervention: The Roles of Family Ethnic Socialization and Ethnic-Racial Background.

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) formation is a key developmental competency that contributes to adolescents’ sense of self and psychosocial adjustment. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) has demonstrated the efficacy of a universal school-based health promotion intervention program to positively influence adolescents’ ERI exploration and ERI resolution, compared to an attention control curriculum that was delivered by the same facilitators, had equivalent contact hours, and focused on post-secondary career and educational options. The current study extended prior tests of the RCT to better understand (a) how intervention-based ERI changes unfolded over two phases—temporally proximal pre- to post-test effects and long-term post-test effects across a 1-year follow-up period, and (b) identify for whom the intervention was more effective by testing theorized contextual moderators—baseline family ethnic socialization practices and youth ethnic-racial background (i.e., White majority vs. ethnic-racial minority). Bilinear spline growth models were used to examine longitudinal ERI trajectories in intervention and control groups across four survey assessments (baseline, 12 weeks, 18 weeks, 67 weeks; N = 215; Mage = 15.02; 49.1% female; 62.6% ethnic-racial minority). In support of an additive effect for the role of families in school-based interventions, post-test ERI exploration significantly increased (relative to the control group) to a greater extent for youth with higher (compared to lower) baseline levels of family ethnic socialization. ERI resolution significantly increased from pre- to post-test for ethnic-racial minority youth and also increased across the 1-year follow-up period for White youth in the intervention. These results highlight family ethnic socialization as a developmental asset for school-based ERI interventions and demonstrate differential pathways by which such interventions support ERI development for ethnic-racial minority and majority adolescents.
Using Animatlab for Neuromechanical Analysis: Linear Hill Parameter Calculation

Modeling muscle-based locomotion in simulation requires reliable interactions between kinematic motion and kinetic forces. Simplifications made in simulation can sometimes obfuscate these interconnections and cause a system to operate in unexpected ways. We present a methodology for calculating muscle parameters that comprise a linear Hill muscle model in the neuromechanical software Animatlab. We examine two numerical issues in Animatlab that cause the muscle tension to become discontinuous, show how violating certain constraints can make the model inaccurate, and show how these issues can be avoided.
Exploring the Relationship Between Usage of Collegiate Recreation Facilities and Academic Achievement

The purpose of this study was to explore grade point average among college students with varied usage levels of collegiate recreation (CR) facilities. Turnstile data was paired with demographic and...
An optimized adaptive PReLU-DBN for rolling element bearing fault diagnosis

Abstract Rolling element bearings are critical components in industrial rotating machines. Faults and failures of bearings can cause degradation of machine performance or even a catastrophe. Therefore, it is significant to perform bearing fault diagnosis accurately and effectively. Deep Learning based approaches are promising for bearing diagnosis. They can extract fault information efficiently and conduct accurate diagnosis. However, the structure of deep learning networks is often determined by trial and error, which is time consuming and lacks theoretical guidance. Besides, the traditional deep learning approaches have low diagnosis accuracy and learning efficiency. To address these problems, this paper proposes a rolling element bearing fault diagnosis approach based on principal component analysis and adaptive deep belief network with Parametric Rectified Linear Unit activation layers. In the proposed approach, particle swarm optimization is integrated to obtain an optimal DBN structure with high accuracy and convergence rate. Experiments on tapered roller bearings and comparison studies with state-of-the-art methods are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach.
Evaluation of the Success of Weight Loss Programs Using the Fit for Performance Curriculum.

INTRODUCTION Overweight and obesity rates continue to rise among U.S. Army soldiers, which impacts their overall readiness status and puts them at greater risk for musculoskeletal injury and development of chronic disease. To address the concern with obesity and ensure that Soldiers are meeting body composition standards, the Army offers Fit for Performance-Weight Loss Strategies curriculum, a program of standardized material on nutrition and physical activity presented over six 1-hour sessions. This study aimed to evaluate the success and attrition of weight loss programs using the Fit for Performance curriculum in an Army setting among TRICARE regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective cohort study consolidated data on participants in weight loss programs using the Fit for Performance curriculum. It examines attrition rates, weight loss, change in body mass index (BMI), factors influencing weight loss, and attrition based on geographical location. Statistical analysis was completed using R Core Team software, version 3.6.1, for t-tests, linear regression, and analysis of variance. Significance was set at P ≤ .05. This study was determined to be exempt by the Walter Reed National Military Hospital Institutional Review Board. RESULTS In total, 8,336 U.S. Army soldiers (80% male, mean age = 26.2 ± 6.9 years) participated in the program. Attrition rates were high (96.4%). Those who attended 4-6 sessions lost significantly more weight than those who attended 1-3 sessions (0.72 kg [1.60 lbs], P < .001); however, weight lost was not clinically significant. Sex, age, and number of sessions attended influenced to the amount of weight lost, but only accounted for 4% of the variation. Among TRICARE regions there was a significant difference in attrition rates, with those in the Western (1.2 sessions, P < .001) and Overseas (1.6 sessions, P < .001) regions attending statistically fewer sessions than those in the Eastern region. CONCLUSIONS Consistent attendance in a weight loss program promotes changes in BMI, which may improve the health of the force. However, the factors influencing these changes are unclear. The results indicate opportunities to re-examine current processes and the program elements to encourage increased or complete participation and determine if program element changes are warranted for the Fit for Performance-Weight Loss Strategies Program. Attrition rates were high, indicating opportunities to research reasons for attendance and attrition in the future. Finally, these findings highlight an opportunity for educating the military leadership on the increased success with increased attendance.
RAFT synthesis of block copolymers and their self-assembly properties

RAFT (reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer) technology is being used to provide polymers with low polydispersity and high compositional uniformity for a variety of electronics applications as well as to produce block copolymers in support of directed self-assembly (DSA) development. RAFT polymerization enables the production of these materials, provided careful process monitoring and compositional homogeneity measurement systems are employed. It is uniquely suited to construction of multiblocks with components of widely divergent surface energies and functionality. In view of required levels of construct defectivity, polymer compositional uniformity and block copolymer purity are under intense scrutiny. Production processes and metrologies are being developed to provide control over long-range order, registered pattern geometries, and pattern perfection commensurate with lithographic needs. More recently, high chi block copolymers synthesized using RAFT technology have been developed specifically for < 10 nm DSA applications. Unique partially fluorinated polymer systems are among those being tested to enable smaller and smaller features using this emerging technology.
Control of plant cell enlargement by hydrogen ions.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the evidence that in Avena coleoptiles and pea stem tissues the hormone auxin induces cell enlargement, by activating proton extrusion, and that the resulting acidification of the wall leads to enzymic cell wall loosening and thus cell enlargement. It emphasizes the point that auxin itself does not act directly on the wall but acts at the cell surface or within the cytoplasm. When a plant cell enlarges, most of the increase in volume is due to the uptake of water into an expanding–centrally located vacuole. The direction of the cell expansion depends on the molecular architecture of the wall and can be primarily in one direction or equally in all directions. Cell enlargement can be initiated in one of the two ways: by an increase in the osmotic concentration of the cell or by an increase in cell wall extensibility (cell wall loosening). In most systems, cell enlargement is initiated by wall loosening. If a section is removed from the elongation zone of a pea stem and placed in water, the cells enlarge, but only at a slow rate. Rapid enlargement can be induced by only four agents: the group of hormones called auxins, hydrogen ions, CO, and the phytotoxin fusicoccin. If hydrogen ions are excreted from auxin-treated Avena coleoptile cells, and if the pH of the wall region falls below 5.8, the walls would undergo cell wall loosening and growth would occur.
Revisionist Accounts of Free Will: Origins, Varieties, and Challenges

Revisionism about free will is the idea that free will is somewhat different than we suppose it to be. This approach has played an increasingly prominently role in theorizing about free will. This chapter traces some of the recent history of the development of revisionist accounts among theories that are both implicitly and explicitly revisionist. It offers a general characterization of revisionism, and considers various ongoing challenges to revisionist theories of free will. This account is intended to supersede the account of revisionism given in “The Revisionist’s Guide to Responsibility” (2005) and Four Views on Free Will (2007).
Power and Overconfidence

A large body of research suggests that many high-stakes decisions made by powerful organizational actors are plagued by overconfidence (Hayward & Hanbrick, 1997; Zajac & Bazerman, 1991). Extant research on power has demonstrated that the sense of power has wide-ranging psychological consequences (Keltner, Gruenfeld, Anderson, 2003). We suggest that it is a sense of power itself that leads to overconfidence. Three studies, using different instantiations of the sense of power, and different measures of overconfidence, demonstrate that power infects decisions with overconfidence (Study 1, Study 2 and Study 3) and the decisions borne out of this overconfidence have downstream consequences in negotiations (Study 4).
Mating asymmetry and the direction of evolution in the Hawaiian cricket genus Laupala.

Based on studies from native Hawaiian Drosophila, a model was proposed to explain sexual isolation and mating asymmetry, from which one could potentially infer the ‘direction of evolution’. We examined sexual isolation between allopatric cricket species of the genus Laupala, another endemic Hawaiian insect with an elaborate mating system, to begin to explore the nature of sexual isolation and mating asymmetry in closely related Hawaiian organisms. We studied sexual isolation and mating asymmetry in two contrasts. First, an inter-island comparison, including L. makaio from the older island of Maui and L. paranigra from the younger island of Hawaii, and second, an intra-island (Hawaii) comparison, including L. nigra from the older volcano of Mauna Kea and L. paranigra with a primary distribution on the younger volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea. We used a ‘no-choice’ experimental design, pairing individual males and females in homospecific or heterospecific combinations. Several behavioural aspects of courtship (proportion of male singing, latency to male singing, production of spermatophores and courtship initiation speed) were quantified as well as the success or failure of matings. We demonstrate asymmetry in sexual isolation between reciprocal combinations of L. makaio and L. paranigra. This result is examined in light of the differences in courtship behaviour manifest in the experiments with these two species. We did not find evidence of asymmetry in sexual isolation between L. nigra and L. paranigra, although differences in courtship initiation speed were evident between reciprocal combinations of these two species. In addition to the geological argument that species on older islands and older volcanoes give rise to species on younger islands and younger volcanoes, we discuss phylogenetic evidence consistent with these biogeographic hypotheses of relationships among the focal taxa. The patterns of asymmetrical sexual isolation and mating asymmetry are consistent with those found in the native Hawaiian Drosophila.
Tropical forests and the global carbon cycle: estimating state and change in biomass density

Tropical forests have an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle because of their existing large areal extent, high rates of deforestation, large C pool in vegetation and soil, and high rates of C emissions resulting from conversion to other uses (equivalent to between 22 and 37% of current fossil fuel C emissions) (Table 11.1). Tropical forests currently account for about 43% of the global forest area (Dixon et al. 1994), most of which is in tropical America (52%), followed by tropical Africa (30%) and tropical Asia (18%). They occur mostly as lowland formations where 88% are at an elevation of 1000 m or less. Within the lowlands, 47% are in the rain forest ecological zone, 38% in the moist deciduous zone, and 15% in the dry to very dry zone (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 1993).
Effect of different location of atrial lead position on nearfield and farfield electrograms in dual chamber pacemaker-defibrillators.

The normal functioning of dual chamber pacemaker-cardioverter defibrillator (AV pacer/ICD) may be affected by oversensing of the farfield R wave (FFRW) by the atrial channel. This study aimed to investigate whether placement of the AV pacer/ICD's atrial lead at a lateral (LAT) wall location compared to a medial (MED) location i.e. the appendage of the right atrium, would reduce the amplitude of FFRWs but not the nearfield atrial electrograms (AEGMs) during sinus rhythm (SR) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). In 17 patients, real time electrograms were recorded during SR and induced VF through the atrial lead initially at the MED and subsequently at the LAT location. In 10 patients the electrograms in SR were also recorded on a computerized data acquisition and recording system at different band-pass filter settings. Although FFRWs were recorded both at MED and LAT locations, they were much smaller, 3.5±4.1[emsp4 ]mm during SR and 1.7±2.2[emsp4 ]mm during VF at the LAT location. At 30–500[emsp4 ]Hz band-pass filter, lower amplitudes of FFRWs 0.14±0.09[emsp4 ]mV were recorded at the LAT location. The V/A ratios of the amplitudes of FFRWs and AEGMs were smaller at the LAT location during SR and VF. The nearfield AEGMs were of similar amplitudes at the MED and LAT locations. These data indicate that lower amplitudes of FFRWs are recorded by placement of the atrial lead at the lateral wall of the right atrium. Oversensing of FFRWs may be prevented to improve functioning of the AV pacer-ICD.
Overcoming Barriers to Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice Concepts in Athletic Training Education: Perceptions of Select Educators

Context: The need to include evidence-based practice (EBP) concepts in entry-level athletic training education is evident as the profession transitions toward using evidence to inform clinical deci...
Fitness Games that Promote Personal and Social Responsibility: Implications for Practitioners

With purposeful planning and concrete teaching strategies, sport and physical activity programs can foster high levels of enjoyment and participation, as well as help students develop concrete life skills like goal setting and leadership. The purpose of this article is to provide strategies for integrating personal and social responsibility lessons within youth fitness games.
A social accounting approach to analyzing agribusiness competitiveness

The social accounting methodology compares budgets based on private costs and returns to budgets based on the social values of inputs and outputs. The differences between these two budgets indicate the taxes and subsidies associated with policies or market imperfections. This methodology has been extensively used in analyzing policies in less developed countries. This article demonstrates through examples the application of the methodology to the analysis of competitiveness and efficiency of agribusiness firms and sectors.
A modification for bladder neck reconstruction in the treatment of patients with exstrophy and incontinence.

AbstractPurpose: We present a modification of bladder neck reconstruction which resulted in improved continence and voiding compared to other techniques of bladder neck repairs in patients with exstrophy and complete incontinence.Materials and Methods: The series consisted of 10 patients with the exstrophy-epispadias complex and complete incontinence who previously had undergone multiple operations for bladder closure, bladder neck reconstruction and epispadias repair. This modification combines bladder neck lengthening and narrowing of the distal half of the urethra, and submucosal embedding of the proximal half of the neourethra in the trigonal area. All patients also underwent bladder augmentation with detubularized sigmoid colon concurrent with bladder neck reconstruction. Additionally the appendical Mitrofanoff principle was applied to 5 cases.Results: Of the 10 patients who underwent bladder neck reconstruction with sigmoid cystoplasty 8 are voiding voluntarily without catheterization and are dry fo...
Polyamine metabolism in compensatory renal growth.

Compensatory renal growth, following renal mass extirpation, is accompanied by multiple biochemical alterations including increased nucleic acid, protein, and polyamine synthesis. The aliphatic polyamines-putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are found in most living organisms and appear to participate in many forms of augmented growth including embryonic, regenerative, hormone-induced, and neoplastic [1–3]. While the precise biochemical function of these compounds has not been defined, increased levels of polyamines and their biosynthetic enzymes occur in association with enhanced nucleic acid and protein synthesis in rapidly growing tissues [3–6]. Polyamines apparently contribute to nucleic acid accumulation by promoting biosynthesis and retarding degradation [6–8]. The decarboxylation of ornithine to putrescine is the rate-limiting step in polyamine synthesis. The catalyst, ornithine decarboxylase, is very inducible and has a short half-life in both normal and regenerating liver (10 to 11 min) [5]. Changes in enzyme activity precede or occur simultaneously with increases in RNA, DNA, and protein concentrations [3]. In this study, alterations in renal polyamine synthesis were investigated in conjunction with other evidences of stimulated kidney growth following unilateral nephrectomy. These data are discussed in the context of previous observations regarding polyamine biosynthesis during enhanced renal growth.
Rubik: Knowledge Guided Tensor Factorization and Completion for Health Data Analytics

Computational phenotyping is the process of converting heterogeneous electronic health records (EHRs) into meaningful clinical concepts. Unsupervised phenotyping methods have the potential to leverage a vast amount of labeled EHR data for phenotype discovery. However, existing unsupervised phenotyping methods do not incorporate current medical knowledge and cannot directly handle missing, or noisy data.We propose Rubik, a constrained non-negative tensor factorization and completion method for phenotyping. Rubik incorporates 1) guidance constraints to align with existing medical knowledge, and 2) pairwise constraints for obtaining distinct, non-overlapping phenotypes. Rubik also has built-in tensor completion that can significantly alleviate the impact of noisy and missing data. We utilize the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) framework to tensor factorization and completion, which can be easily scaled through parallel computing.We evaluate Rubik on two EHR datasets, one of which contains 647,118 records for 7,744 patients from an outpatient clinic, the other of which is a public dataset containing 1,018,614 CMS claims records for 472,645 patients. Our results show that Rubik can discover more meaningful and distinct phenotypes than the baselines. In particular, by using knowledge guidance constraints, Rubik can also discover sub-phenotypes for several major diseases. Rubik also runs around seven times faster than current state-of-the-art tensor methods. Finally, Rubik is scalable to large datasets containing millions of EHR records.
URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUILIBRIUM DEBT

The decade of the 1970's has seen fiscal crises develop in several cities and fiscal retrenchment in many more. This paper analyzes the interrelationship between city investment and borrowing policies, the possibility of fiscal crises, and factors relevant to local government fiscal decisions and sound management.
Studies of sulfate utilization by algae 14. Distribution of adenosine-3′-phosphate-5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) and adenosine-5′-phosphosulfate (APS) sulfotransferases in assimilatory sulfate reducers☆

Abstract Dissimilatory sulfate reducers have been shown to utilize adenosine 5′-phosphosulfate (APS) and it has been suggested that all assimilatory sulfate reducers use adenosine 3′-phosphate 5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) as the immediate donor for reduction. With the finding that the assimilatory sulfate reducer Chlorella pyrenoidosa uses APS as the substrate for reduction via APS-sulfotransferase while Escherichia coli uses PAPS via a PAPS-sulfotransferase, this correlation does not appear to hold; thus a phylogenetic survey of APS and PAPS utilization by reducing systems has been undertaken in order to determine the significance of their distribution. It is shown that non-photosynthetic organisms such as E. coli among the procaryotes and yeast among the eucaryotes contain PAPS-sulfotransferase while photosynthetic organisms including the red algae, the brown algae, the diatoms, the dinoflagellates, the cryptophytes, the prasinophytes and the blue-green algae as well as spinach chloroplasts all utilize APS rather than PAPS. This suggests that APS utilization for assimilatory reduction is characteristic of chloroplasts and chloroplast-containing organisms while PAPS utilization for assimilatory reduction is characteristic of non-photosynthetic organisms. The evolutionary significance of this distribution is discussed.
“Powered by a woman's foot:” A documentary introduction to the sexual politics of the sewing machine in nineteenth-century France

Abstract This article reconstructs a forgotten but highly significant nineteenth-century French controversy over the sewing machine and women's industrial labor, supported by the translated texts of three revealing documents. It offers a preliminary contribution to our understanding of the highly gendered intersection of issues concerning technological innovation, economics, and medicine during the period of accelerating industrialization that marked the latter half of the nineteenth century in Western Europe and America. In an afterword, the author raises questions for further comparative research.
Pharmacokinetic modeling of dynamic MR images using a simulated annealing-based optimization

The aim of this work was to use dynamic contrast enhanced MR image (DEMRI) data to generate 'parameter images' which provide functional information about contrast agent access, in bone sarcoma. A simulated annealing based technique was applied to optimize the parameters of a pharmacokinetic model used to describe the kinetics of the tissue response during and after intravenous infusion of a paramagnetic contrast medium, Gd-DTPA. Optimization was performed on a pixel by pixel basis so as to minimize the sum of square deviations of the calculated values from the values obtained experimentally during dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging. A cost function based on a priori information was introduced during the annealing procedure to ensure that the values obtained were within the expected ranges. The optimized parameters were used in the model to generate parameter images, which reveal functional information that is normally not visible in conventional Gd-DTPA enhanced MR images. This functional information, during and upon completion of pre-operative chemotherapy, is useful in predicting the probability of disease free survival.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A tail of multiple calcium-sensing domains.

Why does she do the things that she does? In the process of evolution Mother Nature has come up with some very complicated, seemingly illogical solutions. Probing the structure–function relationships of ion channel proteins by site-directed mutagenesis has led to many marvelous insights, but more
Is there acetylcholine receptor in human thymus

Recent studies have suggested that thymus tissue of the calf may bear nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The presence of similar receptors in thymus tissue of man could thereby serve as a source of antigen for the production of antibody to the acetylcholine receptor in patients with myasthenia gravis. In the present experiments, human thymus tissue was examined for the presence of acetylcholine receptor. Both [125I] alpha-bungarotoxin binding and antiserum to the human acetylcholine receptor were used in tests for acetylcholine receptor in thymus glands from normal individuals and from patients with myasthenia gravis. Neither normal nor myasthenic thymus tissue were found to possess the [125I] alpha-bungarotoxin binding or the antigenic properties of the acetylcholine receptor.
Optimization of the biomass production of oil algae Chlorella minutissima UTEX2341.

Abstract High production cost is a major obstacle to the extensive use of microalgae biodiesel. To cut the cost and achieve higher biomass productivity, Chlorella minutissima UTEX2341 was cultured under photoheterotrophic conditions. With the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus concentration of 26.37, 2.61 and 0.03 g L −1 d −1 respectively, a maximum biomass productivity of 1.78 g L −1 d −1 was obtained, which was 59 times more than that cultured under autotrophic condition. The lipid productivity reached 0.29 g L −1 d −1 , which was 11.9 times higher than the highest value reported by Oh et al. (2010) . The conversion rate of microalgae lipids to FAME was found to be elevated from 45.65% to 62.97% and the FAME productivity increased from 1.16 to 180.68 mg L −1 d −1 after the optimization. 94% of the fatty acid of C. minutissima UTEX2341 was found to be composed of palmitic, oleic, linoleic and γ linoleic and the unsaturated fatty acids were the main parts (79.42%).
Eel Electroplaques: Spike Electrogenesis without Potassium Activation

Measurements with the voltage clamp technique demonstrate that only an early conductance increase occurs during spike electrogenesis of eel electroplaques. The delayed increase which is characteristic of spike electrogenesis in many other cells is absent. Instead, the membrane resistance increases two- to threefold above its resting value. The brief initial increase in conductance is due to sodium activation followed by rapid sodium inactivation. The influx of sodium causes an inward current of up to 80 ma/cm2. The inward current is abolished by eliminating the sodium from the normal medium (substitution of choline chloride for NaCl); by blocking sodium activation with tetrodotoxin; or by causing sodium inactivation through enrichment of the potassium in the medium. The delayed increase in membrane resistance is not affected by eliminating sodium influx, nor by substituting various impermeable anions for the chlorine of the normal medium. Thus, the increase in resistance signifies the occurrence of potassium inactivation which is unmasked by the absence of potassium activation.
Radiative heat transfer augmentation of natural gas flames in radiant tube burners with porous ceramic inserts

Abstract Experiments were conducted using porous ceramic inserts to enhance the radiative heat transfer from natural gas flames in a straight-through radiant tube burner. The performance of the radiant tube burner with partially stabilized zirconia and silicon carbide inserts is compared to a baseline case of no inserts at three levels of combustion air preheat. Spectral intensities, temperatures within the radiant tube burner, tube wall temperatures, and exhaust temperatures were measured to determine the effectiveness of the enhanced heat transfer due to the inserts. Exhaust emission constituents were also measured to determine the effect that the inserts have on exhaust products. NO x emissions are reduced by up to 30% with the inserts. The silicon carbide inserts have higher spectral intensities and total radiative energy transfer than partially stabilized zirconia inserts. Both inserts have enhanced radiant heat transfer compared to the no-insert configuration, with the radiative enhancement due to inserts as great as five times that of the no-insert configuration. The net result is increased tube wall temperatures and decreased exhaust temperatures with the ceramic inserts.
Timing of induction of tgf-alpha in ras induced human bladder neoplastic progression.

Introduction of a H-ras oncogene into an SV-40 immortalized human urothelial cell lines (SV-HUC) results in morphologically altered cell clones which acquire tumorigenic potential following serial passaging in culture. Early and late passage cells, from individual ras transfected clones exhibiting different tumorigenic potential, display increased growth factor synthesis in mitogenic assays. Northern blot analysis revealed induction of TGF-alpha mRNA concomitant with the introduction of a H-ras oncogene with no modulation in EGF receptor expression observed throughout neoplastic progression. Consistent with completion of an autocrine loop, down modulation and activation of EGF receptors was observed in early passage cells coincident with TGF-alpha expression. In this human urothelial progression model TGF-alpha secretion follows the introduction of a H-ras oncogene prior to the acquisition of tumorigenic potential.