cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interactions Between Soil Erosion Processes and Fires: Implications for the Dynamics of Fertility Islands

Shrub encroachment in arid and semiarid rangelands, a worldwide phenomenon, results in a heterogeneous landscape characterized by a mosaic of nutrient-depleted barren soil bordered by nutrient-enriched shrubby areas known as ‘‘fertile islands.’’ Even though shrub encroachment is considered as a major contributor to rangeland degradation, little is known about mechanisms favoring the reversibility of the early stages of this process. Here we synthesize the interactions between fires and soil erosion processes, and the implications of these interactions for management of rangelands. The burning of shrub vegetation develops relatively high levels of soil hydrophobicity. This fire-induced water repellency was shown to enhance the soil erodibility in and around burned shrub patches. The fire-induced enhancement of local-scale soil erosion results from changes in the interparticle bonding forces between the soil grains, thus altering the way moisture is retained in the soil. It has been shown—with a number of wind-tunnel studies, field-scale manipulative experiments, microtopographic measurements, and isotopic tracer studies—how the fire-erosion interactions affect the dynamics of fertility islands. Further we propose a new conceptual model of resource ‘‘island’’ dynamics that explains some of the findings previously reported in the literature on the interactions between aeolian processes and arid-land vegetation. In particular, we highlight the ability of fires to enhance the erodibility of nutrient-rich soils accumulated under the shrubs favoring the redistribution of soil resources, thereby contributing to the reversibility of the early stages of shrub encroachment.
Seasonal availability of resources and habitat degradation for the western tree-hole mosquito, Aedes sierrensis

The nutrient base of aquatic tree-hole commu- nities is derived from leaf litter, benthic detritus, and wa- ter flowing down the tree trunk (stemflow water). Previ- ous studies in eastern North America with the mosquito, Aedes triseriatus, have identified leaf litter as a major and stemflow water as a minor source of mosquito nutri- tion, but did not consider the role of the benthic detritus or how the aggregate or relative contribution of these sources of mosquito nutrition changed during the year. We use the leaf litter, benthic detritus, and stemflow wa- ter from tree holes in western Oregon (USA) to deter- mine how these substrates affect mass at metamorphosis, biomass yield, and fitness (cohort replacement rate; R0) of the mosquito, Aedes sierrensis, through both natural and simulated winters, the normal growing season for larvae in tree holes. We found that fresh leaf litter consti- tutes the major determinant of mosquito fitness by a fac- tor of >15:1 over any other substrate taken directly from tree holes in nature. The other substrates, including the benthic detritus, individually make only a meager contri- bution to mosquito fitness but, when added to the leaf lit- ter, can sustain yield and improve fitness at high, limit- ing larval densities. Nutritional quality of tree-hole sub- strates declines by >90% from early (fall) to late (spring) in the larval growing season. At both times of year, the coarse or fine detritus provide minor resources, and stemflow water provides no detectable contribution to mosquito nutrition. The resources in the litter are not transported during the year to the benthic detritus; rather, these resources are either exploited by mosquitoes when they first become available, or they deteriorate and be- come progressively more unavailable to them. Growth and development of A. sierrensis feeding on dried and reconstituted tree-hole contents during a 6-month simu- lated winter in the laboratory showed: (1) the same rela- tive contributions of leaf litter, benthic detritus, and stemflow water to mosquito nutrition, (2) that the winter deterioration of substrate quality is a direct consequence of microbial decomposition, and (3) that pre-emptive competition from pre-existing A. sierrensis greatly in- creases substrate deterioration. We conclude that the pro- gressive winter deterioration of larval resources in com- bination with the dry summers of western North America are the most likely environmental factors that limit spe- cies diversity in tree holes and that have selected for ear- ly recruitment (autumnal hatching) of A. sierrensis and for its univoltine life cycle from Mexico to Canada.
CamCubeOS: a key-based network stack for 3D torus cluster topologies

Cluster fabric interconnects that use 3D torus topologies are increasingly being deployed in data center clusters. In our prior work, we demonstrated that by using these topologies and letting applications implement custom routing protocols and perform operations on path, it is possible to increase performance and simplify development. However, these benefits cannot be achieved using mainstream point-to-point networking stacks such as TCP/IP or MPI, which hide the underlying topology and do not allow the implementation of any in-network operations. In this paper we describe CamCubeOS, a novel key-based communication stack, purposely designed from scratch for 3D torus fabric interconnects. We note that many of the applications used in clusters are key-based. Therefore, we designed CamCubeOS to natively support key-based operations. We select a virtual topology that perfectly matches the underlying physical topology and we use the keyspace to expose the physical locality, thus avoiding the typical overhead incurred by overlay-based approaches. We report on our experience in building several applications on top of CamCubeOS and we evaluate their performance and feasibility using a prototype and large-scale simulations.
Total and regional blood flows in vascularized skeletal muscle grafts in rabbits.

The transplantation of whole skeletal muscles is a common clinical procedure. Although atypical blood flows have been reported in small free muscle grafts, the blood flow of large neurovascular-intact (NVI) and neurovascular-anastomosed (NVA) grafts have not been measured. Because the maximum specific force (N/cm2) of NVI and NVA grafts is 65% that of control muscles, we hypothesized that total and regional blood flows (ml.min-1.100g-1) of NVI and NVA grafts at rest and during twitch contractions are significantly lower than lower flows of control muscles. In rabbits, blood flows of control rectus femoris (RFM) muscles and NVI and NVA grafts of RFM muscles were measured by the radioactive-microsphere technique. In control muscles, blood flow increased linearly from 6.8 +/- 1 ml.min-1.100 g-1 at rest to 64.4 +/- 7 ml.min-1. 100 g-1 at a stimulation frequency of 3 Hz with no further increase at 4 Hz. Total blood flows in grafts were not different from the control RFM muscle values, except for a higher resting flow in NVA grafts and a lower flow at 3 Hz in NVI grafts. Minor variations in regional flows were observed. We conclude that the operative procedures of grafting and repair of blood vessels affect the vascular bed of muscles minimally, and the deficits observed in grafts do not arise from inadequate perfusion.
Token relabeling in a tagged token data-flow architecture

A direct structure access approach called token relabeling scheme is presented in which all array operations can be performed without the use of any intermediary structure memory. The graph constructs for both approaches are described. Four numerical algorithms including fast Fourier transform, bitonic sort, LU decomposition, and matrix multiplication are implemented in both approaches. Token relabeling is directly applicable to arrays which are entirely consumed. Graph constructs which allow partial consumption are also designed. The effectiveness and efficiency of this parallel random access construct verifies the feasibility and applicability of the token relabeling scheme. A deterministic simulation of Arvind and K.P. Gostelow's tagged-token data-flow architecture (1982) is undertaken to validate the graph designs and evaluate the performance of the graphs. It is shown that the direct access graphs present better performance with regard to execution time, speedup, and resource utilization. >
Machine learning and automatic linguistic analysis: the next step

In order to continue building systems with progressively more complex natural language capabilities, it is crucial that great strides are made toward solving the core linguistic analysis problems for complex and possibly unrestricted domains. A great deal of progress has been made by applying machine learning techniques to automatically train systems from manually annotated corpora to provide detailed linguistic analyses to sentences. This paper examines a number of issues within this paradigm of automatic linguistic knowledge acquisition and how they relate to pushing progress in the field of natural language processing over the next decade.
Hepatic TLR4 signaling in obese NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease occurs frequently in the setting of metabolic syndrome, but the factors leading to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are not fully understood. This study investig...
Postinfarction Ventricular Septal Rupture

Postinfarction ventricular septal rupture is an uncommon but serious complication of acute myocardial infarction. Although I have tried various methods for repairing postinfarction septal defects, I recently began to use an exclusion technique, which is an extension of the intracavitary repair method that I use to treat ventricular aneurysms. This exclusion technique yields satisfactory results (early mortality rate, 36.4%), even in patients in severe cardiogenic shock.
Dynamic verification of end-to-end multiprocessor invariants

As implementations of shared memory multiprocessors become more complicated, hardware faults will increasingly cause errors that are difficult or impossible to detect with low-level, localized mechanisms. In this paper, we argue for dynamic verification (i.e., on-the-fly checking) of end-to-end, system-wide invariants in shared memory multiprocessors. We develop two invariant checkers based on distributed signature analysis. Our coherence-level checker dynamically verifies that every cache coherence upgrade has a corresponding downgrade elsewhere in the system. Our messagelevel checker verifies that all nodes in an SMP observe the same total order of broadcast requests. We use full-system simulation to show that the checkers detect the targeted errors while not significantly degrading system performance.
Generics, Habituals and Iteratives

Generics, habituals, and iteratives all have something to do with the notion of event repetition. However, iteratives expressly state repetition of events, whereas generics and habituals designate generalizations over repeated events. Though not adhered to uniformly, a ‘habitual’ sentence makes a generalization over repeated events with subject noun phrases denoting individuals or groups of individuals, whereas a ‘generic’ sentence has a subject that denotes a type of thing. Generics and habituals are distinguished from iteratives in several ways, among them that the former sentences are stative, whereas the latter are nonstative. Generics and habituals introduce intensionality. Generics and habituals are also focus-sensitive.
Human Cryptosporidiosis: A Clinical Perspective

Cryptosporidiosis is a diarrheal illness that in humans is most commonly due to infection by Cryptosporidium parvum or C. hominis. It has a world-wide distribution and is associated with both human to human and zoonotic infections, depending on the Cryptosporidium species causing the infection. Cryptosporidiosis can occur in both immune competent individuals, where it causes a self limiting diarrheal illness, or in patients with immune deficiency where the diarrhea can be extensive and result in death. The severity of illness is dependent upon factors such as age, environment, co-existent diseases, and host immune status. Infection typically involves the gastrointestinal cells that line the epithelial surface of the small and large intestines, but, depending on the species of Cryptosporidium, can also involve other epithelial surfaces such as the respiratory tract, particularly in immune compromised hosts. This chapter reviews the available data on the pathogenesis of cryptosporidiosis in humans, the host response to this infection, the clinical complications associated with illness, and the therapeutic and preventative strategies for management of this infection.
El precio de la priorización pagada: Las consecuencias internacionales y domésticas del fracaso de proteger la neutralidad en la red en los Estados Unidos

In this Article, we first examine the trade and human rights obligations of the United States as they relate to net neutrality to determine the extent to which each of the two most recent approaches adopted by the FCC to promote an open Internet would comply with those obligations. We also examine the history of regulation of broadband providers as common carriers subject to nondiscrimination obligations under U.S. law. We conclude that the FCC has, by and large, successfully complied with its international trade and human rights obligations in its new Open Internet Order. Normal 0 21 false false false ES-CL X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
Hostile Takeovers: A Primer for the Decision Maker

This note introduces the student to the dynamics of the hostile takeover setting and characterizes the decision problem as a "game." In this context, it is necessary to understand other players and their modes of thought, defensive tactics, and rules (laws and court precedents) by which players compete. The survey covers these considerations and discusses the probabilistic analysis by which players can assess the possible actions of various parties. The paper was prepared to supplement case discussions on hostile takeovers.
Dandy-Walker syndrome: presentation of the congenital malformation in an older patient.

Abstract Dandy-Walker syndrome, a congenital malformation of the hindbrain involving the cerebellum and the fourth ventricle, is a rare cranial abnormality that commonly occurs before the sixth or seventh week of development. It is usually diagnosed at birth or in early childhood; however, an occasional patient may first become symptomatic in adult life. A case of Dandy-Walker syndrome in a 58-year-old woman is reported because of the older age at presentation and relatively long asymptomatic period after birth.
Myeloid tissue factor does not modulate lung inflammation or permeability during experimental acute lung injury

Tissue factor (TF) is a critical mediator of direct acute lung injury (ALI) with global TF deficiency resulting in increased airspace inflammation, alveolar-capillary permeability, and alveolar hemorrhage after intra-tracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In the lung, TF is expressed diffusely on the lung epithelium and intensely on cells of the myeloid lineage. We recently reported that TF on the lung epithelium, but not on myeloid cells, was the major source of TF during intra-tracheal LPS-induced ALI. Because of a growing body of literature demonstrating important pathophysiologic differences between ALI caused by different etiologies, we hypothesized that TF on myeloid cells may have distinct contributions to airspace inflammation and permeability between direct and indirect causes of ALI. To test this, we compared mice lacking TF on myeloid cells (TF(∆mye), LysM.Cre(+/-)TF(flox/flox)) to littermate controls during direct (bacterial pneumonia, ventilator-induced ALI, bleomycin-induced ALI) and indirect ALI (systemic LPS, cecal ligation and puncture). ALI was quantified by weight loss, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) inflammatory cell number, cytokine concentration, protein concentration, and BAL procoagulant activity. There was no significant contribution of TF on myeloid cells in multiple models of experimental ALI, leading to the conclusion that TF in myeloid cells is not a major contributor to experimental ALI.
Building better boxes for theories of health behavior: a comment on Williams and Rhodes (2016)

Health psychology has a long history of dusting off the boxes drawn to represent variables in theories of health behaviour. Researchers have rearranged the boxes (e.g., protection motivation theory...
A Biocultural Analysis of Social Organization at Monte Albán

Skeletal material from high and low status interments at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, is used to evaluate the biocultural relationship between the two samples. Analyses of sex ratios, and metric and nonmetric variables fail to demonstrate a significant difference between the two groups, and suggest that class endogamy was unlikely. Analysis of the age structure of the samples provides evidence for a significant difference; social mobility and status achievement are suggested. Models of the growth and development of Monte Alban are evaluated in light of the biocultural analyses.
Partisan Bias in Blame Attribution: When Does it Occur?

How do citizens attribute blame in the wake of government failure? Does partisanship bias these attributions? While partisan cues may serve as useful guides when citizens are evaluating public policies, those cues are likely to be less informative and more distortionary when evaluating government performance regarding a crisis. We address these questions by examining blame attributions to government appointees for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We implement an experimental design in a nationally representative survey that builds on previous work in two ways: (1) we manipulate party labels for the same officials in a real-world setting by considering appointees who were nominated at different times by presidents of different parties; and (2) we examine how domain relevance moderates partisan bias. We find that partisan bias in attributions is strongest when officials are domain relevant, a finding that has troubling implications for representative democracy.
DOGMATISM AND PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCES: A 1968 REPLICATION

Our study of the 1964 presidential elections (DiRenzo, 1968) explored the thesis that politicians differ in the public image which they project and that the electorate will vote for those candidates with whom it shares some measure of identification. Results confirmed our hypotheses that dogmatism is differentially and significantly associated with political ideology and party preference and that a more precise interaction of the dogmatism syndrome exists in terms of more specific preferences for particular political candidates. Further research was indicated in the light of the fact that these results, while consistent with similar studies during the past 20 years, were contradictory to others. The 1968 presidential elections, with the enhancement of available options, both in terms of candidates and ideologies and/or methodologies, provided a stimulus-situation that potentially could yield a more precise theoretical analysis for this question of personaliry and electoral behavior. Method.-A non-probability sample of male and female undergraduate and graduate students at a state university in the deep South was administered Form E (complete version) of the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale (Rokeach, 1954). The sample indicated an extremely strong interest in the elections as indicated by the fact that on a measurement of this variable, utilizing a five-point Likert-type scale, the mean response was 4.3. Of registered voters, 59% were white; 5% were Negro. Data were collected during the last week of October, 1968. The general hypothesis was that dogmatism is associated differentially and significantly with particular preferences for presidential candidates. More specif~cally, we hypothesized that Wallace preferences were more likely to derive from dogmatic scorers, while preferences for Humphrey and Nixon were more likely to come from non-dogmatic scorers. All other methodological proced~~res were identical to those used in the 1964 study. Resdts.--Our findings may be inspected in Table 1. The interaction between dogmatism and preferences for presidential candidates, in support of our hypothesis, yielded a distribution which on the basis of a chi-square test is statistically significant (p = .0005 ). Of the chi-square value for this distribution,
Method of geological prediction in tunnel engineering

The geological prediction in tunnel engineering,the geological disaster resulting in the design and the practice and the reason about the low precision of the geological prediction data are are expounded.The emphatic part of the geological prediction are decided through analyzing the detection data and complementary detection during the geological construction prediction.And describing of the heading face,the choice of the exploring method,the result of exploration the report and construction validation of the geological prediction method are expounded too.
Religious Identity vs. Organizational Identity: Influences on Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Although organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is widely known to have a positive impact in work organizations, the causal antecedents that influence the likelihood of such behaviors among empl...
Near death from a novel synthetic opioid labeled U-47700: emergence of a new opioid class

AbstractBackground: In the last decade there has been a worldwide surge in the recreational abuse of novel psychoactive substances, particularly amphetamine derivatives and synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic opioids such as AH-7921, MT-45, and U-47700, with structures distinct from those ever used therapeutically or described recreationally, have also recently emerged.Case details: We report a patient who suffered respiratory failure and depressed level of consciousness after recreationally using a novel synthetic opioid labeled U-47700. A single dose of naloxone administered by paramedics completely reversed his opioid poisoning. Comprehensive laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of a novel synthetic opioid and excluded other drugs. The drug used appeared to have caused a false positive benzodiazepine result on the initial urine drugs of abuse panel.Conclusion: The case we describe of toxicity from the synthetic opioid labeled U-47700 highlights the emerging trend of novel synthetic opioid abuse.
Space-efficient data sketching algorithms for network applications

Sketching techniques are widely adopted in network applications. Sketching algorithms “encode” data into succinct data structures that can later be accessed and “decoded” for various purposes, such as network measurement, accounting, anomaly detection and etc. Bloom filters and counter braids are two well-known representatives in this category. Those sketching algorithms usually need to strike a tradeoff between performance (how much information can be revealed and how fast) and cost (storage, transmission and computation). This dissertation is dedicated to the research and development of several sketching techniques including improved forms of stateful Bloom Filters, Statistical Counter Arrays and Error Estimating Codes. Bloom filter is a space-efficient randomized data structure for approximately representing a set in order to support membership queries. Bloom filter and its variants have found widespread use in many networking applications, where it is important to minimize the cost of storing and communicating network data. In this thesis, we propose a family of Bloom Filter variants augmented by rank-indexing method. We will show such augmentation can bring a significant reduction of space and also the number of memory accesses, especially when deletions of set elements from the Bloom Filter need to be supported. Exact active counter array is another important building block in many sketching algorithms, where storage cost of the array is of paramount concern. Previous approaches reduce the storage costs while either losing accuracy or supporting only passive measurements. In this thesis, we propose an exact statistics counter array architecture that can support active measurements (real-time read and write). It also leverages the aforementioned rank-indexing method and exploits statistical multiplexing to minimize the storage costs of the counter array. Error estimating coding (EEC) has recently been established as an important tool to estimate bit error rates in the transmission of packets over wireless links. In essence, the EEC problem is also a sketching problem, since the EEC codes can be viewed as a sketch of the packet sent, which is decoded by the receiver to estimate bit error rate. In this thesis, we will first investigate the asymptotic bound of error estimating coding by viewing the problem from two-party computation perspective and then investigate its coding/decoding efficiency using Fisher information analysis. Further, we develop several sketching techniques including Enhanced tug-of-war(EToW) sketch and the generalized EEC (gEEC)sketch family which can achieve around 70% reduction of sketch size with similar estimation accuracies. For all solutions proposed above, we will use theoretical tools such as information theory and communication complexity to investigate how far our proposed solutions are away from the theoretical optimal. We will show that the proposed techniques are asymptotically or empirically very close to the theoretical bounds.
Language Learning, Gender and Desire: Japanese Women on the Move, by Takahashi, K.

In her recent monograph, Language Learning, Gender and Desire: Japanese Women on the Move, Kimie Takahashi (2013) presents her five-year-long qualitative inquiry of Japanese female English learners...
Working it: the professionalization of amateurism in digital adult entertainment

AbstractThis article examines a sector of professional amateur work for women in the digital industry for adult entertainment known as “adult webcam modeling” (AWM). Through a selection of narratives, this paper explores the gendered meanings of AWM and the values women derive from their “amateur” sexual content creation. I draw particular attention to the complex union of professional and amateur roles and relations in the strategies women adopt to succeed in these spaces. On one level, they describe the technical skills and institutionalized knowledge needed to successfully perform professionalized duties of hosting and animating site users’ sexual and emotional fantasies. Still, they do not solely view their work in professional terms, highlighting the usefulness of enacting their amateurism by performing authenticity and developing ongoing friendships with site users for succeeding in this line of work. Framing this work as reliant on both “professional” and “amateur” strategies builds ambiguity into ...
Tripodal Amine Ligands for Accelerating Cu-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition: Efficiency and Stability against Oxidation and Dissociation.

Ancillary ligands, especially the tripodal ligands such as tris(triazolylmethyl)amines, have been widely used to accelerate Cu-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC, a “click” reaction). However, the relationship between the activity of these Cu(I) complexes and their stability against air oxidation and ligand dissociation/exchange was seldom studied, which is critical for the applications of CuAAC in many biological systems. In this work, we synthesized twenty-one Cu(I) tripodal ligands varying in chelate arm length (five to seven atoms), donor groups (triazolyl, pyridyl and phenyl), and steric hindrance. The effects of these variables on the CuAAC reaction, air oxidation, and ligand dissociation were evaluated. Reducing the chelate arm length to five atoms, decreasing steric hindrance, or using a relatively weakly binding ligand can significantly increase the CuAAC reactivity of the Cu(I) complexes, but the concomitant higher degree of oxidation cannot be avoided, which leads to rapid degradation of a histidine-containing peptide as a model of proteins. The oxidation of the peptide can be reduced by attaching oligo(ethylene glycol) chains to the ligands as sacrificial reagents. Using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), we directly observed the tri- and di-copper(I)-acetylide complexes in the CuAAC reaction in the [5,5,5] ligand system and a small amount of di-Cu(I)-acetylide in the [5,5,6] ligand system. Only the mono-Cu(I) ligand adducts were observed in the [6,6,6] and [5,6,6] ligand systems.
Multifidelity Uncertainty Propagation via Adaptive Surrogates in Coupled Multidisciplinary Systems

Fixed point iteration is a common strategy to handle interdisciplinary coupling within a feedback-coupled multidisciplinary analysis. For each coupled analysis, this requires a large number of disc...
Single Turnover at Molecular Polymerization Catalysts Reveals Spatiotemporally Resolved Reactions.

Multiple active individual molecular ruthenium catalysts have been pinpointed within growing polynorbornene, thereby revealing information on the reaction dynamics and location that is unavailable through traditional ensemble experiments. This is the first single-turnover imaging of a molecular catalyst by fluorescence microscopy and allows detection of individual monomer reactions at an industrially important molecular ruthenium ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) catalyst under synthetically relevant conditions (e.g. unmodified industrial catalyst, ambient pressure, condensed phase, ca. 0.03 m monomer). These results further establish the key fundamentals of this imaging technique for characterizing the reactivity and location of active molecular catalysts even when they are the minor components.
Mechanical Thrombectomy of Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Using Trans-Anterior Communicating Artery Approach.

Background A cross-circulation technique involves gaining access to a cerebral vessel through a patent anterior or posterior communicating artery. This technique may be used in patients with emergent large-vessel occlusions and an unfavorable direct route to the occlusion. While few previous reports have demonstrated a successful cross-circulation technique for treatment of emergent large-vessel occlusions, we present the first 2 cases of transanterior communicating artery stent retriever thrombectomy. Case Description Case #1: A 64-year-old female presented with acute right middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. She demonstrated a “triple-tandem” brachiocephalic–internal carotid artery–middle cerebral artery occlusion, thus precluding direct access to the right MCA. Successful stent retriever mechanical thrombectomy was performed across the anterior communicating artery, using a left internal carotid artery approach. Case #2: A 70-year old female presented with acute occlusion of the left MCA and tandem occlusion of the cervical left internal carotid artery. Multiple attempts to catheterize the left common carotid artery were unsuccessful. She underwent successful stent retriever mechanical thrombectomy across a patent anterior communicating artery, using a right internal carotid artery approach. Conclusions Timely recanalization of an occluded artery plays a critical role in the prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke. Successful stent retriever mechanical thrombectomy of an occluded MCA is possible using a transanterior communicating artery approach in patients without a direct access route to the occluded intracranial vessel. We review the pathophysiology of tandem lesions, access routes to intracranial occlusions, and the literature on cross-circulation techniques to treat emergent large-vessel occlusions.
Adaptive potential of a drug-targeted viral protein as a function of environmental stress

RNA viruses are notorious for their ability to evolve rapidly under selection in novel environments. It is known that the high mutation rate of RNA viruses can generate huge genetic diversity to facilitate viral adaptation. However, less attention has been paid to the underlying fitness landscape that represents the selection forces on viral genomes. Here we systematically quantified the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of about 1,600 single amino acid substitutions in the drug-targeted region of NS5A protein of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). We found that the majority of non-synonymous substitutions incur large fitness costs, suggesting that NS5A protein is highly optimized in natural conditions. We characterized the adaptive potential of HCV by subjecting the mutant viruses to selection by the antiviral drug Daclatasvir. Both the selection coefficient and the number of beneficial mutations are found to increase with the level of environmental stress, which is modulated by the concentration of Daclatasvir. The changes in the spectrum of beneficial mutations in NS5A protein can be explained by a pharmacodynamics model describing viral fitness as a function of drug concentration. We test theoretical predictions regarding the distribution of beneficial fitness effects of mutations. We also interpret the data in the context of Fisher9s Geometric Model and find an increased distance to optimum as a function of environmental stress. Finally, we show that replication fitness of viruses is correlated with the pattern of sequence conservation in nature and viral evolution is constrained by the need to maintain protein stability.
Methods to facilitate early exploratory testing of novel psychopharmacologic agents in humans.

The starting point for this chapter follows from three assumptions: (1) substantial numbers of patients seriously ill with psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression show inadequate therapeutic responses to all available classes of drugs; (2) decisions to take new potential psychotropic compounds into humans are more and more based on judgments as to the likelihood of there being a reasonable market for that specific compound; and (3) pharmacologic guidance can greatly enhance the efficiency of the clinical development process both in terms of reducing wasted effort in Phase I testing and of deriving maximum information concerning the appropriate dose to test the therapeutic potential of a novel compound. With regard to this latter point, it is well known that even marketed psychotropic drugs have had very misleading dose recommendations because what is required for marketing is to establish safe doses which on average have a positive effect rather than doses which produce the maximum possible benefit.
Beneficial Effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (n-9 Fatty Acids) on Neurological Disorders

Olive oil is used by humans for food since prehistoric times. Olive oil not only contains oleic acid (18:1n-9), but also small amounts of other fatty acids, such as palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, linoleic, and α-linolenic acids and squalene (Fig. 2.1). In addition to fatty acids, olive oil also contains phenolic compounds. Oleic acid, a monounsaturated nonessential fatty acid, belongs to n-9 family of fatty acids. It is found in animals and plants and represents a large proportion of human dietary intake with low uptake by liver and brain. Beef and poultry contain 30–45 % oleic acid, while oils such as palm, peanut, soybean, grape seed oil, and sunflower contain 25–49 % oleic acid (Waterman and Lockwood 2007). Other sources of oleic acid include avocado fruit (50 %), Macadamia nuts (45 %), apricot seeds (35 %), almonds (33 %), and olive oil (55–80 %). Among various cooking oils, olive oil is unique because it has high oleic acid content. In contrast, majority of other cooking oils (palm, peanut, soybean, and sunflower) are composed primarily of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The presence of one double bond makes oleic acid not only less susceptible to oxidation, but also contributes to the high stability and long shelf life of olive oil (Owen et al. 2000a, b).
Defect engineering in Boron Nitride for catalysis

Catalytic processes are critical steps in numerous industrial processes. The discovery of high reactivity of defects in metal-free two-dimensional materials has bolstered their emergence as catalysts. Here we consider the effect of defect-inducing methods in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on their performance for olefin and CO2 hydrogenation. We compare the changes introduced by ball milling and heat treatment in h-BN and show how varying the treatment conditions can impact the properties. We provide some evidence of the reactivity of the powders. Our results highlight how characterization can be exploited to assess the potential catalytic activity of h-BN for heterogeneous catalysis.
A Digital Implementation of PLL-Based Control for the Series-Stacked Buffer in Front-End PFC Rectifiers

Single-phase rectifier systems often require simultaneously high power factor, efficiency, and power density but can be difficult to implement with conventional solutions. In this work, a 1.5 kW, universal (95 to 265 $\mathbf{V}_{rms}$ ) ac input, 400 V dc output power factor correction (PFC) rectifier with a flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) boost front-end and a series-stacked buffer (SSB) for twice-line frequency energy buffering is implemented to meet these stringent high performance design requirements. Specifically, a PLL-based SSB control method is proposed and characterized for system integration with a generalized PFC front-end. The impacts of the SSB on the PFC front-end performance as well as the impacts of the PFC front-end behavior on SSB performance are analyzed and discussed. The interdependence of this SSB control and the PFC control architecture are validated through appropriate system modeling and experimental verification.
Parkinson's Disease: Exploring Motives for Long-Term Adherence to a Group Exercise Program.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to explore why people with Parkinson's disease maintained attendance at a community group exercise program. DESIGN Qualitative design was used for this study. METHODS A purposive sample was used to recruit participants. Interviews with individual and focus groups collected narrative data that were interpreted using content analysis. FINDINGS Eighteen participants enrolled in the study. Four themes emerged: (1) changing and challenging workout; (2) gaining strength, inspiration, and knowledge and doing it among friends; (3) professionals, not amateurs; and (4) holistic lasting benefit. CONCLUSIONS For the participants in this study, exercising in a group among peers in an enjoyable, varied, and challenging program that was structured, socially supportive, and supervised provided incentive for maintaining attendance. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Exercise is a life-long recommendation for everyone, including people with Parkinson's disease, for whom maintaining attendance is more challenging. The words of these participants encourage healthcare providers to consider the relevance of socialization, supervision, and structure when developing exercise programs for this population.
Teacher (as student) driven curriculum development for an introductory computer science course

This research paper introduces the Joy and Beauty of Computing (JBC) curriculum, an introductory class in computer science (CS) that focuses on computational thinking and Python programming, and the weeklong professional development (PD) class we conducted for high school teachers from a large, rural state in the Northwest. With little prior experience in CS, this cohort of teachers became familiar with the JBC curriculum first as a learner and then through the lens of educators. A significant portion of PD time was devoted to pedagogically-based discussions of the JBC curriculum and adaptations suggested by the K12 teachers to localize the course for high school classroom needs. This paper details specific modifications that can be universally applied to most introductory computing courses. Results are based on years of collective experience from college and high school educators and can be very useful in the development of more effective CS courses deployed at the college or high school level.
Molecular subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer in women of different race and ethnicity

Molecular subtypes of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) are associated with variation in survival and may assist in treatment selection. However, the association of patient race or ethnicity with subtypes of TNBC and clinical outcome has not been addressed. Using nCounter Gene Expression Codesets, we classified TNBCs into subtypes: basal-like immune-activated (BLIA), basal-like immunosuppressed (BLIS), luminal androgen receptor (LAR), and mesenchymal (MES) in 48 Hispanic, 12 African-American, 21 Asian, and 34 White patients. Mean age at diagnosis was significantly associated with subtype, with the youngest mean age (50 years) in MES and the oldest mean age (64 years) in LAR (p < 0.0005). Subtype was significantly associated with tumor grade (p = 0.0012) and positive lymph nodes (p = 0.021), with a marginally significant association of tumor stage (p = 0.076). In multivariate Cox-proportional hazards modeling, BLIS was associated with worst survival and LAR with best survival. Hispanics had a significantly higher proportion of BLIS (53%, p = 0.03), whereas Asians had a lower proportion of BLIS (19%, p = 0.05) and a higher proportion of LAR (38%, p = 0.06) compared to the average proportion across all groups. These differences in proportions of subtype across racial and ethnic groups may explain differences in their outcomes. Determining subtypes of TNBC facilitates understanding of the heterogeneity of the TNBCs and provides a foundation for developing subtype-specific therapies and better predictors of TNBC prognosis for all races and ethnicities.
Effect of hypoxia on caspase-3, -8, and -9 activity and expression in the cerebral cortex of newborn piglets

Caspases play an important role in programmed cell death. Caspase-3 is a key executioner of apoptosis, whose activation is mediated by the initiator caspases, caspase-8 and caspase-9. The present study tested the hypothesis that cerebral hypoxia results in increased activation and expression of caspases-3, -8, and -9 in the cytosolic fraction of the cerebral cortex of newborn piglets. To test this hypothesis the activity and expression of caspases-3, -8, and -9 were determined in newborn piglets divided into normoxic and hypoxic groups. Caspase activity was determined spectrofluorometrically using enzyme specific substrates. The expression of caspase protein was assessed by Western blot analysis using enzyme specific antibody. Caspases-3, -8, and -9 activity and expression was significantly higher in the hypoxic group than in the normoxic group. These results demonstrate that hypoxia induces activation and increased expression of both the initiator caspases and the executioner caspase in the cerebral cortex of newborn piglets. We conclude that hypoxia results in stimulation of both the pathways of caspase-3 activation.
Laser Ultrasonic Imaging of Flat-Bottom-Drilled Holes

Laser ultrasonics is an emerging ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation technology that has attractive properties of being noncontact [1] and possessing broad frequency components, especially in the higher frequency end [1,2]. When laser beams are used to generate and detect ultrasound, the laser beams are often focused to small spots on a specimen’s surface. A laser ultrasonic system can often be modeled as a point-source-point-receiver system, which makes ray tracing analysis simpler [3].
Manufacturing Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened (ODS) Steel Fuel Cladding Tubes Using the Cold Spray Process

The cold spray materials deposition process has been investigated for manufacturing oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel fuel cladding tubes. Gas-atomized 14YWT ODS steel powder was used as the feedstock material. A parametric investigation of the cold spray process involving substrate materials of various hardnesses, gas preheat temperatures, and carrier gas compositions was performed to achieve the highest quality deposit. The high-velocity impact of the powder on the substrate led to dissolution of discrete oxide nanoparticles, which subsequently reprecipitated during postdeposition annealing at high temperatures. The tubes were manufactured by deposition on an Al-alloy mandrel substrate and subsequent chemical dissolution of the substrate. A 204-mm-long and 1-mm-thick ODS steel cladding tube was successfully manufactured. The grain growth and distribution of oxide nanoparticles in ferritic steel matrix were identified at elevated temperatures. Overall, the cold spray process holds considerable promise for rapid, cost-effective manufacturing of ODS steel cladding tubes.
Immunophenotypic Characterization and Purification of Neoplastic Cells from Lymph Nodes Involved by T‐Cell/Histiocyte‐rich Large B‐cell Lymphoma by Flow Cytometry and Flow Cytometric Cell Sorting

Background T-cell/histiocyte rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLBCL) is B-cell lymphoma in which rare neoplastic cells are embedded in a reactive infiltrate. We describe the first characterization of the neoplastic cells by flow cytometry (FC). Methods Using FC, we immunophenotyped the neoplastic cells of 11 cases of THRLBCL and 11 cases of DLBCL, NOS (controls). Neoplastic THRLBCL cells were also purified by flow cytometric cell sorting (FCCS). Results A neoplastic THRLBCL population was detected by FC in 9 of 11 cases (82%). Neoplastic THRLBCL cells demonstrated an aberrant germinal center B-cell immunophenotype (bright CD20, bright CD40; positive for Bcl-6 and CD75; weakly positive for CD32; negative for IgH). With regard to adhesion molecules, CD54 was overexpressed, CD58 expression varied between cases, and CD50 expression was intermediate. Evaluation of immunomodulatory receptors demonstrated that PD-L2 was weakly expressed and PD-L1 was variably expressed. Finally, FCCS of two cases showed large multi-lobated cells with morphology consistent with neoplastic cells of THRLBCL. Conclusions The immunophenotype identified and the morphology of the FCCS purified cells confirms the FC defined populations are neoplastic cells from THRLBCL. While the cohort is small, neoplastic THRLBCL cells lack surface immunoglobulins. CD40, CD50, and CD54 were overexpressed in THRLBCL relative to DLBCL, NOS, perhaps contributing to the predominance of T cells in THRLBCL. Expression of CD32, PD-L1, and PD-L2 may be useful in distinguishing THRLBCL and NLPHL. Finally, the FC assays will be useful for purifying neoplastic cells of THRLBCL and for diagnostic immunophenotyping of THRLBCL. © 2019 International Clinical Cytometry Society.
Developing Faculty to Teach with Technology: Themes from the Literature.

Technology has changed higher education; yet, many faculty are still hesitant to teach with technology. Faculty development might help change this, but questions remain on the best ways to help faculty teach with technology. Given this problem, we conducted a review of the literature to identify some best practices on how to develop faculty to teach with technology in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to present themes of faculty development research in higher education published from 2013 to 2018 where teaching with technology is a central component of the study. The results suggest that mentorship and faculty-teaching-faculty are effective strategies, that online delivery methods continue to grow, that teaching with technology warrants cross-disciplinary collaboration and that faculty motivations vary across rank and discipline.