cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
667. Effects of Various Physical, Chemical, and Biological Exposures on rAAV Stability and Function

With an increasing number of potential recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapies progressing to clinical trials, much time and money are devoted to ensuring that means of handling the vector do not effect the subsequent gene expression. In this study we hope to answer some of the concerns that arise when clinical (and basic science) trials are being planned.The vector used in this study was a rAAV2/1 encoding a chimpanzee alpha-1 antitrypsin (chimpAAT) gene under the control of a chicken beta actin promoter and CMV enhancer. The vector used in the study was all from the same pooled batches. Prior to intramuscular injection in mice the vector was subjected to 1 of 30 different conditions. The conditions included different storage temperatures (-80C, 4C, room temperature), different numbers of freeze thaw cycles, different diluents (serum (human, mouse and complement depleted), sodium chloride, lactated Ringers and gadolinium), high and low pH, ultraviolet (UV) exposure, high temperature (55C and 72C), varying storage materials prior to injection (polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, stainless steel, glass, and syringe). Five B6.129S7.Rag-/- mice per group were then injected intramuscularly with 1×10^11 vector genomes/mouse. Serum was collected from each mouse weekly for 12 weeks. A total human AAT ELISA (which we previously determined accurately detects chimpAAT) was then performed with the serum.We found that the only conditions that led to little or no chimpAAT expression in the mouse serum were UV exposure for 10min and 72C exposure for 20 min. All other conditions resulted in serum chimpAAT levels between approximately 20,000 and 40,000 ng/ml. Statistical analysis of these results as well as vector titer and tissue vector genome data are still pending.These results are encouraging in that a wide variety of conditions had little effect on the resultant protein levels in the serum. We hope that these results will aid investigators when planning both research and clinical trials as they make decisions on how to handle the vector prior to injection.
Bimolecular Reactions between Dimethylnitramine and Its Radical Decomposition Products.

Bimolecular reactions between intact nitramines and their radical decomposition products can accelerate thermal decomposition, yet the detailed mechanisms of such reactions are not well understood. We have used density functional theory at the M06/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level to locate transition structures and compute 0 K activation barriers for various gas-phase reactions that may contribute to radical-assisted decomposition of dimethylnitramine (DMNA, (CH3)2NNO2). Our calculations indicate that H abstraction from DMNA is the lowest-barrier mechanism for most radicals and a subsequent N–N β-scission in the alkyl radical 3 leads to an imine intermediate and NO2. H abstraction is thus responsible for conversion of most radicals to NO2. Also, among the nine radicals considered, NO is found to be least reactive and its reactions with DMNA yield dimethylnitrosoamine (DMNSA, (CH3)2NNO), a known product of DMNA decomposition.
Effect of centrifugation and seminal plasma on motility and fertility of stallion and bull spermatozoa.

The effect of centrifuging semen on bovine and equine spermatozoan motility and fertility and the effect of seminal plasma and dilution on equine spermatozoan survival during incubation before and after freezing were studied. Centrifugation at 3708 or 829 g was not detrimental (p more than .05) to prefreeze or postfreeze motility when the final concentration of seminal fluid was 10%. However a reduction of seminal plasma to 2% significantly (p less than .05) reduced motility. Spermatozoan motility was significantly (p less than .05) reduced before and after freezing by removal of seminal plasma. The dilution of 1:4 was superior to all other dilutions for prefreeze and postfreeze motility. Postfreeze motility was highest in the extender containing 20% seminal plasma. Frozen or unfrozen equine spermatozoa was not affected (p more than .05) by centrifugation at 310 g for 3.5 minutes; however the fertility of bovine semen was lowered by centrifugation at 270 g for 3 minutes (p less than .05).
Performance-Based Funding for Community Colleges: Are Colleges Disadvantaged by Serving the Most Disadvantaged Students?

ABSTRACTTexas recently adopted a new performance-based funding (PBF) model for community colleges. Using institutional student unit record data, this study applied the metrics from this PBF model to examine enrollment outcomes among 5,900 students attending a large, racially/ethnically diverse community college system in the state. Our findings revealed stark differences in PBF apportioned to the college as a function of students' characteristics. On average, students who were Asian, age 19 or younger, pursuing academic/transfer degrees, enrolled full-time, Pell Grant recipients, and assigned to the highest-levels (i.e. closest to college-level) of developmental math procured the most PBF for the college. Conversely, African American, older adults, part-time students, GED holders, and students assigned to the lowest level of developmental math secured much less funding. To assuage undesirable consequences on institutional behavior, we recommend modifications to Texas' PBF model that could help ensure comm...
Making the Break: Alain Mabanckou's Tale of Impossible Origins

ABSTRACTThis essay explores the question of origins in Alain Mabanckou's critically acclaimed novel, Verre Casse (2005). While it has been argued that Mabanckou's text falls in line with the litterature-monde paradigm and thus debunks the notion of Francophonie, I contend that it depicts the entire enterprise of origins as always already doomed to failure and proposes in its place a relational thought-model that surpasses the dialectical thought that grounds universalism and particularism alike. Thematically, Mabanckou portrays character quests for originality as absurd; on the level of narrative mode, he uses murky narrative positions and temporality to unhinge the authority of the singular speaking subject; finally, through the incorporation of intertextual references, he defies the very logic driving the notion of origins. Composing his text out of others’ gone before, Mabanckou pushes diversity to a higher conceptual level; he appropriates and repurposes old fragments, joining them up in one relationa...
When Data Become Ubiquitous, What Becomes of Accounting and Assurance?

ABSTRACT Big Data and the data analytical software for analyzing it have developed far enough that some trends have emerged. People are clever. Leave them alone with resources and they will do interesting things with them, giving both intended and unintended consequences. This commentary stems from the 2016 Journal of Information Systems Research Conference (JISC2016) on Big Data. It highlights the landscape of Big Data, including how organizations are starting to use data in different ways. While it is true that some of what this commentary offers does not, strictly speaking, require Big Data with respect to volume, diversity, and structure, the connotations that Big Data bestowed have prompted new ways to stage and use data. For example, “70% of firms now say that big data is of critical importance to their firms” (Malone 2016). The articles in this issue were presented as papers at JISC2016. They treat different aspects of the growing availability and use of data in organizations.
Overview of Histopathology of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease

Abstract Macroscopic and microscopic examinations of intestinal biopsies or resection specimens play an essential role in diagnosing and managing patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This chapter discusses the histopathology of typical ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), some unusual features or variants of UC and CD, and indeterminate colitis. In addition, it details the histomorphologic criteria for diagnosing and grading dysplasia and colorectal cancer arising from IBD, particularly some recently described, diagnostically challenging variants. Furthermore, it discusses the most recent advances in the interpretation of IBD-associated neoplasia in the context of the SCENIC international consensus statement on surveillance and management of dysplasia in IBD. Pathology of the ileal pouch is also discussed.
California’s Wildcat Sedans: 1917–42 Challenging Transportation Regulated Monopoly:

During the interwar period, illegal shared ride sedans (known as ‘wildcat sedans’) appealed to a significant fraction of travellers between Los Angeles and San Francisco, defying California’s ethos...
An automated mapping satellite system (MAPSAT)

Digital data from highly stabilized stereo linear arrays are amenable to simplified processing to produce both planimetric imagery and elevation data. A satellite, called MAPSAT, including this concept was proposed to accomplish automated mapping in near real time. Image maps as large as 1:50,000 scale with contours as close as 20-m interval may be produced from MAPSAT data.
Artrodesi lombare e lombosacrale mediante approccio posteriore con e senza strumentazione

Riassunto L’artrodesi lombare e lombosacrale mediante approccio posteriore, con e senza strumentazione, e uno dei metodi piu utilizzati per il trattamento chirurgico della lombalgia con o senza instabilita. Si descrivono in dettaglio il metodo e le tecniche chirurgiche per l’artrodesi posteriore. l risultati della letteratura dell’ultimo decennio evidenziano una percentuale di successo del 67% per l’artrodesi lombare primaria strumentata e del 47% per le revisioni. La percentuale di pseudoartrosi dopo artrodesi lombare posteriore primaria strumentata va dal 6 all’8%. La percentuale delle indicazione per la revisione dei fallimenti di artrodesi posteriore va dal 6 al 36%. Da quando si e iniziato a utilizzare la stabilizzazione transpeduncolare posteriore, i risultati sono migliorati, sono diminuite l’incidenza di pseudoartrosi e le indicazioni per una revisione. Gli Autori sottolineano la necessita di una precisa e completa vantazione del paziente quando si definiscono le indicazioni per queste procedure chirurgiche.
Can Physicians Help Curb Adolescent Violence

Some of the factors associated with such violence, notably racism and poverty, clearly demand societal solutions. Other factors, however, may respond to public health intervention strategies. Emergency room workers can practice secondary intervention, as they do with victims of child abuse, sexual assault, or attempted suicide. Family physicians can refer adolescents for appropriate help.
The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

In Chap. 9 we evaluated a few definite integrals by using Riemann sums, a method that is generally not easy, even for simple integrands. Then we evaluated a few more, by interpreting the definite integral as a certain familiar area. Generally however, computing definite integrals which routinely appear in problems with no apparent notion of area or of average value in sight, can be very difficult. Coming to the rescue in many cases is the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. With it, many more definite integrals can be computed relatively easily. But this—the most important theorem in all of Calculus—gives us a great deal more.
Toward a Model for Customer-Driven Release Management

Undetected software bugs frequently result in service disruptions, productivity losses, and in some instances significant threat to human life. One way to prevent such bugs is to engage customers in acceptance testing prior to the production software release, yet there is a considerable lack of empirical examination of the release process from the customer’s perspective. To address this research-practice gap, this study proposes a model for customer-driven release management that has been shown to minimize the number of software bugs discovered in production systems. The model is evaluated during a 27 month study at a municipality using the action research method. Following the model, 361 software bugs were detected and eliminated prior to final production releases, confirming the value of customer-driven release management for elimination of production software bugs.
Novel methods for manipulating and combining light fields

Image-based modeling is a family of techniques that uses images, rather than 3D geometric models, to represent a scene. A light field is a common image-based model used for rendering the appearance of objects with a high-degree of realism. Light fields are used in a variety of applications. For example, they are used to capture the appearance of real-world objects with complex geometry, like human bodies, furry teddy bears, or bonsai trees. They are also used to represent intricate distributions of light, like the illumination from a flash light. However, despite the increasing popularity of using light fields, sufficient tools do not exist for editing and manipulating them. A second limitation is that those tools that have been developed have not been integrated into toolkits, making it difficult to combine light fields. This dissertation presents two contributions towards light field manipulation. The first is an interactive tool for deformation of a light field. Animators could use this tool to deform the shape of captured objects. The second contribution is a system, called LightShop, for manipulating and combining light fields. Operations such as deforming, compositing, and focusing within light fields can be combined together in a single system. Such operations are specified independent of how that light field is captured or parameterized, allowing a user to simultaneously manipulate and combine multiple light fields of varying parameterizations. This dissertation first demonstrates light field deformation for animating captured objects. Then, LightShop is demonstrated in three applications: (1) animating captured objects in a composite scene containing multiple light fields, (2) focusing on multiple depths in an image, for emphasizing different layers in sports photography and (3) integrating captured objects into interactive games.
Demonstration of LOTUS multiphysics BEPU analysis framework for LB-LOCA simulations

Abstract The LOCA Toolkit for U.S. light water reactors (LOTUS) currently under development at Idaho National Labs (INL) is a plug and play, multiphysics environment to be used in support of system level plant transient analysis. New proposed rule changes in LOCA safety regulations (10 CFR 50.46c) require the inclusion of cladding hydrogen content in the evaluation of equivalent cladding reacted (ECR) and peak cladding temperature (PCT). The potential for a future implementation of said rule change motivates the current development of a unique union of core design, system analysis, and fuel performance codes within a framework allowing for uncertainty quantification (UQ). A demonstration of LOTUS capabilities to address this potential need is performed with an integration of the core design code PHISICS, the fuel performance code FRAPCON, and the system analysis code RELAP5-3D. UQ is performed via Wilks’ method to compute the one sided 95/95 confidence values of the aforementioned safety metrics. Results demonstrate the benefits of the Multiphysics Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty (MP-BEPU) methodology and provide useful visualization of the limiting cases.
Evaluating the Case for 1986-Style Corporate Tax Reform

This short paper, which appeared in Tax Notes after being presented at the Boston College Tax Analysts Conference on Reforming Entity Taxation on October 10, 2014, explores the relationship between taxing corporate income at the entity level and the difficulty in evaluating whether a corporate rate cut (accompanied by base-broadening) would be desirable without significant accompanying structural changes. It concludes that the case for such "1986-style corporate tax reform" is far more ambiguous, and the likely net policy gain (if any) far smaller, than is sometimes assumed by policymakers.
Racial/ethnic disparities in women's sleep duration, continuity, and quality, and their statistical mediators: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Study objectives To describe racial/ethnic differences in sleep duration, continuity, and perceived sleep quality in postmenopausal women and to identify statistical mediators of differences in sleep characteristics. Methods Recruited from the observational Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), 1,203 (548 white, 303 black, 147 Chinese, 132 Japanese, and 73 Hispanic; mean age 65 years, 97% postmenopausal) women participated in a week-long actigraphy and daily diary study in 2013-2015. Actigraphic measures of sleep duration and wake after sleep onset (WASO), and diary-rated sleep quality were averaged across the week. Candidate mediators included health-related variables; stress; and emotional well-being assessed up to 13 times across 18 years from baseline to sleep study. Results Whites slept longer than other groups; the significant mediators were concurrent financial hardship and increasing number of stressors for Hispanics or Japanese versus whites. Whites had less WASO than blacks and Hispanics; significant mediators were concurrent number of health problems, physical inactivity, waist circumference, vasomotor symptoms, number of life stressors, and financial hardship, and increasing number of health problems from baseline to sleep study. Whites reported better sleep quality than blacks, Chinese, and Japanese; significant mediators were concurrent physical inactivity, vasomotor symptoms, positive affect, and depressive symptoms. Conclusions Sleep differences between blacks or Hispanics versus whites were mediated by health problems, number of stressors, and financial hardship, whereas sleep differences between Chinese or Japanese versus whites were mediated by emotional well-being. This is the first study using formal mediational approaches.
Sexual Behavior of Rams as Influenced by the Degree of Restraining Estrous Ewes and by the Additional Presence of Anestrous Ewes

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the sexual performance of rams in serving capacity tests was influenced by the degree of restraining estrous ewes (in stanchions, tethered or unrestrained) and the additional presence of nonreceptive (anestrous) ewes. Twelve rams, previously identified as low-level sexual performers, were exposed individually for 15-min periods to four estrous ewes presented in each of six conditions: in stanchions, tethered and unrestrained, with and without four unrestrained anestrous ewes present. The degree of restraining estrous ewes influenced ram behavior. Rams investigated unrestrained and tethered estrous ewes more times than ewes in stanchions (P < .01 and P < .05, respectively). The frequency and duration of ram courtship behaviors also were greater when the ewes were unrestrained or tethered than when they were in stanchions (all P < .01). Rams tended to mount unrestrained ewes more times than ewes in stanchions (P < .10); however, serving capacity (number of completed matings per unit of time) was not influenced by the degree of restraining estrous ewes. The presence of anestrous ewes reduced the frequency and time spent investigating and the number of ejaculations with estrous ewes (all P < .01) and increased the latency to first ejaculation (P < .01). When estrous ewes were given more freedom to move about, rams investigated and courted estrous ewes more and anestrous ewes less (all interactions were significant). In conducting sexual performance tests with rams, only ewes observed to be in standing estrus should be present in the testing pen.
Vehicular Integration of Wireless Power Transfer Systems and Hardware Interoperability Case Studies

Several wireless charging methods are under development or available as an aftermarket option in the light-duty automotive market. However, there are not a sufficient number of studies detailing the vehicle integration methods, particularly a complete vehicle integration with higher power levels. This paper presents the design, development, implementation, and vehicle integration of wireless power transfer (WPT) based electric vehicle charging systems for various test vehicles. Before having the standards effective, it is expected that WPT technology first will be integrated as an aftermarket retrofitting approach. Inclusion of this technology on production vehicles is contingent upon the release of the international standards. The power stages of the system are introduced with the design specifications and control systems, including the active front-end rectifier with power factor correction, high frequency power inverter, high frequency isolation transformer, coupling coils, vehicle side full-bridge rectifier and filter, and the vehicle battery. The operating principles of the control and communication systems are presented. Aftermarket conversion approaches, including the WPT on-board charger integration, WPT CHAdeMO integration, and WPT direct battery connection scenarios, are described. The experiments are carried out using the integrated vehicles and the results obtained to demonstrate the system performance including the stage-by-stage efficiencies.
Triage Disparities in Pediatric Patients That Present to the Emergency Department with Abdominal Pain

Purpose: Abdominal pain is a common chief complaint presenting to pediatric emergency departments (EDs). There is a growing body of literature illustrating that racial/ethnic disparities exist in the treatment, timeliness of care and diagnostic evaluation of abdominal pain in the ED. Triage plays a central role in determining how quickly patients are evaluated. The triage process is based on objective and subjective criteria, the latter of which can be influenced by biases. Our study hypothesized that disparities exist in the triage scoring of patients …
A 6-Year-Old Boy with Respiratory and Feeding Difficulties at Birth, Delayed Gross Motor Milestones, and Facial and Proximal Lower Limb Weakness

The child in this vignette presented with proximal leg muscle weakness. He had normal creatine kinase, mildly myopathic electromyography and muscle biopsy showed features consistent with core myopathy which was caused by compound heterozygous RYR1 mutations. Core myopathy is clinically and genetically heterogeneous; RYR1 mutations are the most common cause of congenital myopathies. The histologic hallmark of core myopathy is the presence of cores within the muscle fibers.
Imaging of Infertility, Part 1: Hysterosalpingograms to Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Infertility, or subfertility, is the inability to achieve a clinical pregnancy after a 1-year period of regular unprotected sexual intercourse in women younger than 35 and after 6 months in women older than 35. Although initial assessment involves a multitude of factors, including a detailed medical history, physical examination, semen analysis, and hormonal evaluation, diagnostic imaging of the female partner often plays an important role in establishing the etiology for infertility. This article provides an overview of the multimodality imaging assessment of female infertility and details the developmental and acquired pelvic abnormalities in which diagnostic imaging aids in evaluation.
Nitride dot-in-nanowire light emitters with suppressed auger process

Abstract In wurtzite III-Nitride nano-devices, the non-radiative Auger recombination is the primary mechanism responsible for the degradation of internal quantum efficiency (IQE), especially under high current density. In this paper, by employing an atomistic tight-binding framework, we theoretically study the effects of Auger recombination in recently reported InGaN/GaN dot-in-nanowire light emitters. The effects of strain and polarization, which can be strong in realistically-sized structures, have been considered. We demonstrate that the use of graded interfacial confinement leads to a weaker Auger recombination as compared to the abrupt counterpart, especially for thinner nanowires. The atomistically simulated Auger recombination coefficient for the core quantum dot buried in nanowire with different diameter is then incorporated into a TCAD simulator to obtain the device terminal (efficiency vs. current) characteristics. Overall, the simulation results indicate that increasing the diameter of the host nanowire (that is, the volume of the active region) remains the most efficient way to suppress Auger recombination.
Pubertal adversity alters chromatin dynamics and stress circuitry in the pregnant brain

Women who have experienced adverse childhood events (ACEs) around puberty are at the greatest risk for neuropsychiatric disorders across the lifespan. This population is exceptionally vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disease presentation during the hormonally dynamic state of pregnancy. We previously established that chronic adversity around puberty in female mice significantly altered their HPA axis function specifically during pregnancy, modeling the effects of pubertal ACEs we also reported in women. We hypothesized that the pregnancy hormone, allopregnanolone, was involved in presentation of the blunted stress response phenotype by its interaction with the molecular programming that had occurred during pubertal adversity experience. Here, in adult mice previously stressed during puberty, allopregnanolone administration was sufficient to reproduce the decreased corticosterone response after acute stress. Examination of neuronal activation and the electrophysiological properties of CRF neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) found no significant changes in synaptic function that corresponded with the blunted HPA axis reactivity. However, at the chromatin level, utilization of ATAC-Seq profiling demonstrated a dramatic remodeling of DNA accessibility in the PVN following pubertal adversity. Altogether, these data establish a potential molecular mechanism whereby adversity during puberty can enact lasting transcriptional control that manifests only during a unique period of the lifespan where dynamic hormonal changes occur. These results highlight a biological process that may impart an increased risk for a highly vulnerable population, whereby pubertal programming of the PVN results in aberrant HPA axis responsiveness when exposed to the hormonal changes unique to pregnancy.
The Right to a Good Defense: Investigating the Influence of Attorney Type Across Urban Counties for Juveniles in Criminal Court:

Juvenile defendants in criminal court represent an especially vulnerable group for whom quality legal representation is critical. While some juvenile defendants are able to obtain private counsel, ...
EXERCISE-ASSOCIATED PREMATURE VENTRICULAR CONTRACTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR ADVERSE CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS IN PATIENTS WITH STABLE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

Exercise-associated premature ventricular contractions (EAPVCs) are often observed during exercise testing, however, their clinical significance is uncertain. We studied 922 patients with stable CAD who enrolled in the Heart and Soul study between 2000 - 2002 and underwent exercise stress testing.
Applications of digital image processing techniques to problems of data registration and correlation

An overview is presented of the evolution of the computer configuration at JPL's Image Processing Laboratory (IPL). The development of techniques for the geometric transformation of digital imagery is discussed and consideration is given to automated and semiautomated image registration, and the registration of imaging and nonimaging data. The increasing complexity of image processing tasks at IPL is illustrated with examples of various applications from the planetary program and earth resources activities. It is noted that the registration of existing geocoded data bases with Landsat imagery will continue to be important if the Landsat data is to be of genuine use to the user community.
7 – Measure Spaces

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the fundamental structure of measure theory, namely, the concept of a measurable space. A ring on X is a collection of subsets of X that is closed under formation of pairwise unions and differences of sets. A set X equipped with a Borel field is called a Borel space and is denoted by the ordered pair. A Borel space is a system, or structure, very much like an algebraic system or a topological space. A measurable space is a σ-ring, where the union of all measurable sets is the entire space. In a measurable space, every point is contained in some measurable set.
Flammability Characterization of a Polysulfide Based Ramjet Fuel

This research program seeks to understand how the proportions of the fuel ingredients affect the ignition and decomposition characteristics of a novel solid ramjet fuel. The approach involves an in...
An emergency care research course for healthcare career preparation.

University students have limited opportunities to gain healthcare clinical exposure within an academic curriculum. Furthermore, traditional pre-medical clinical experiences like shadowing lack active learning components. This may make it difficult for students to make an informed decision about pursuing biomedical professions. An academic university level research course with bedside experience provides students direct clinical participation in the healthcare setting. Described is a research immersion course for senior university students (3rd to 5th year) interested in healthcare and reported study enrollment with final course evaluations. The setting was an adult, academic, urban, level 1 trauma center emergency department (ED) within a tertiary-care, 1000-bed, medical center. Our course, “Immersion in Emergency Care Research”, was offered as a university senior level class delivered consecutively over 16-weeks for students interested in healthcare careers. Faculty and staff from the Department of Emergency Medicine provided a classroom lecture program and extensive bedside, hands-on clinical research experience. Students enrolled patients in a survey study requiring informed consent, interviews, data abstraction and data entry. Additionally, they were required to write and present a mock emergency care research proposal inspired by their clinical experience. The course evaluations from students’ ordinal rankings and blinded text responses report possible career impact. Thirty-two students, completed the 16-week, 6–9 h per week, course from August to December in 1 of 4 years (2016 to 2019). Collectively, students enrolled 759 ED patients in the 4 survey studies and reported increased confidence in the clinical research process as each week progressed. Ranked evaluations were extremely positive, with many students describing how the course significantly impacted their career pathways and addressed an unmet need in biomedical education. Six students continued the research experience from the course through independent study using the survey data to develop 3 manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. A bedside emergency care research course for students with pre-healthcare career aspirations can successfully provide early exposure to patients and emergency care, allow direct experience with clinical bedside research, research data collection, and may impact biomedical science career choices.
Intracranial Hypertension Recurrence Risk After Wean of Intracranial Pressure-Lowering Medication

Abstract Background The proportion of children with recurrent signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension after medication wean has been reported to be between 18% and 50%. Few studies have reported intracranial hypertension recurrence risk in children while adjusting for each individual's observed follow-up time after medication wean. In addition, the role of intracranial hypertension etiology on the risk of disease recurrence has not been widely studied. Methods The medical charts of patients with intracranial hypertension treated with intracranial pressure-lowering medication were analyzed retrospectively for disease recurrence. Baseline characteristics from diagnosis were recorded in addition to information regarding duration of therapy, medication wean, and recurrence. Survival analyses as well as Poisson regression models with time under observation as an offset were performed. Results One hundred and thirty-three patients were included in the study. The cumulative risk of intracranial hypertension recurrence increased rapidly within the first six months after medication wean and was 1.5% at one month, 9.5% at three months, and 20% at six months. This risk leveled off near 12 to 18 months. Conclusions While the cumulative risk of intracranial hypertension recurrence increases most dramatically within the first six months after medication wean, it does not appear to taper until 12 to 18 months. Given the possibility of delayed or asymptomatic recurrences, long-term follow-up is ideal, although patients can likely be seen less frequently after the first 12 to 18 months after medication wean.
Singularities in the Gravitational Capture of Dark Matter through Long-Range Interactions

We re-examine the gravitational capture of dark matter (DM) through long-range interactions. We demonstrate that neglecting the thermal motion of target particles, which is often a good approximation for short-range capture, results in parametrically inaccurate results for long-range capture. When the particle mediating the scattering process has a mass that is small in comparison to the momentum transfer in scattering events, correctly incorporating the thermal motion of target particles results in a quadratic, rather than logarithmic, sensitivity to the mediator mass, which substantially enhances the capture rate. We quantitatively assess the impact of this finite temperature effect on the captured DM population in the Sun as a function of mediator mass. We find that capture of DM through light dark photons, as in e.g. mirror DM, can be powerfully enhanced, with self-capture attaining a geometric limit over much of parameter space. For visibly-decaying dark photons, thermal corrections are not large in the Sun, but may be important in understanding long-range DM capture in more massive bodies such as Population III stars. We additionally provide the first calculation of the long-range DM self-evaporation rate.
Biocompatibility Of A Novel Ocular Drug Delivery System

The capsule drug ring (CDR) prototypes were manufactured by hot melt extrusion of Bionate II® (DSM), a polycarbonate urethane. As the Bionate II® tubing was extruded from the dye, it was wrapped around a 8mm pipe to incorporate the correct inner and outer diameters into the polymer before fully setting. A filter composed of polyether sulfone was fitted to one end of the devices for controlled drug release. The other end was sealed. In vitro biocompatibility was assessed with human lens epithelial cell (B-3), mouse macrophage (J774A.1), and mouse fibroblast (L-929) cell lines. Cell migration and proliferation were assessed after in vitro culture. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e. MIP-1β, MIP-1α, MCP-1, IL-1β, TNF, TGF-β1) were quantified using cytometric bead array (CBA). Preliminary in vivo biocompatibility and pharmacokinetics testing has been performed in rabbits. Drug reservoir Filter
Influences on Community College Students' Educational Plans.

This study analyzed data from 285 students attending 5 community colleges to identify the institutional and college experience variables influencing end-of-first-year educational degree plans. Controlling for an extensive array of important confounding influences, the estimated average precollege degree plans of students at the community college one attended had significant, positive total and direct effects on an individual student's end-of-first-year overall educational degree plans and plans to obtain at least a bachelor's degree. In the prediction of end-of-first-year overall educational degree plans, there were significant conditional effects involving sex, race, and precollege degree plans.
Parameter sensitivity in the backpropagation learning algorithm

The sensitivity of the backpropagation training algorithm to its learning rate and gain parameters is investigated. The authors report results from numerical experiments giving evidence for extreme sensitivity of training time, and even training success, to these parameters. A dynamic parameter update method that avoids the chaotic regime is derived. It is concluded that small changes of the gain parameter or the learning rate can greatly alter training time for a backpropagation network and even whether training is possible. Combined with evidence of similar sensitivity to initializations, these results show the impossibility of simple recipes for useful convergence criteria in backpropagation networks. Perhaps by optimizing all the variables that comprise the stepsize together, it will be easier to achieve a useful optimization strategy for the backpropagation algorithm. >
Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances. by Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane (Eds.)

Since the 2008 global financial crisis a vigorous and sometimes shrill discussion of rising economic inequality has permeated public discourse in America, from the Occupy Wall Street movement to th...
Lifetimes of the First Excited 0+ States of Ca 40 and Zr 90

The first excited states of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{40}$ and ${\mathrm{Zr}}^{90}$ are 0+ states which decay to the 0+ ground state primarily by the emission of internal pairs or conversion electrons. These states have been excited by neutron inelastic scattering and their decay times have been observed by detecting the 0.51-Mev annihilation gamma rays as a function of time. The experimental method utilized a pulsed neutron source and the standard ring geometry often used for inelastic scattering measurements. Proton excitation of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{40}$ in a different geometry was also used. To measure the lifetimes, the pulse-height spectra from a NaI(Tl) scintillation counter were recorded as a function of the delay time after the exciting pulse, and the intensity of the annihilation radiation was obtained from the area under the photopeak at 0.51 Mev. Selection of the time delays was made with the aid of either a time-to-pulse-height converter or a fast coincidence circuit. Mean lives for the first excited states of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{40}$ and ${\mathrm{Zr}}^{90}$ were found to be (3.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec and (90\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec, respectively. Corresponding values of the reduced matrix elements $\ensuremath{\rho}$ are 0.15 and 0.056.
Examining Attitudes Toward College Students with Minority Sexual Orientations: Findings and Suggestions

ABSTRACT This qualitative study combined descriptive written instruments and focus group data to investigate heterosexual college students' current attitudes toward gay and lesbian peers, a distinctly at-risk population. Overall, participants were generally supportive, but participants felt public pressure to hide or shield the support they felt for gay male and lesbian civil rights and tone down privately held religious views antagonistic to gay males and lesbians. In addition, participants appeared more knowledgeable than they actually were about gay male and lesbian issues. Suggestions and limitations are discussed.
Complementary market opportunities for commercial & military mm-wave MMIC devices

There is pressure for improved performance, reduced weight and lower cost from both military and commercial market spaces. Both arenas are moving towards an IP-based control architecture, and new design must always be aimed and implementation with low-cost manufacturing techniques. There are numerous areas of technology overlap in both areas, and several specific areas of synergy were illustrated. In the future, commercial and military suppliers would best serve both market spaces by collaborating in the development of new technologies and materials. The former days of separate and different approaches to product development and manufacturing are gone, and if collaborative effort are set up properly, commercial and military supplier should succeed, and the stage is set for collaborative efforts well into the future.
A model for calculating user-identity trustworthiness in online transactions

Online transactions require a fundamental relationship between users and resource providers (e.g., retailers, banks, social media networks) built on trust; both users and providers must believe the person or organization they are interacting with is who they say they are. Yet with each passing year, major data breaches and other identity-related cybercrimes become a daily way of life, and existing methods of user identity authentication are lacking. Furthermore, much research on identity trustworthiness focuses on the user's perspective, whereas resource providers receive less attention. Therefore, the current research investigated how providers can increase the likelihood their users' identities are trustworthy. Leveraging concepts from existing research, the user-provider trust relationship is modeled with different transaction contexts and attributes of identity. The model was analyzed for two aspects of user-identity trustworthiness — reliability and authenticity — with a significant set of actual user identities obtained from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Overall, this research finds that resource providers can significantly increase confidence in user-identity trustworthiness by simply collecting a limited amount of user-identity attributes.
Glaciation and regional groundwater flow in the Fennoscandian shield

Regional-scale groundwater flow modeling of the Fennoscandian shield suggests that groundwater flow can be strongly affected by future climate change and glaciation. We considered variable-density groundwater flow in a 1500-km-long and approximately 10-km-deep cross-section through southern Sweden. Groundwater flow and shield brine transport in the cross-sectional model were analyzed under projected surface conditions for the next 140 ka. Simulations suggest that blockage of recharge and discharge by low-permeability permafrost or cold-based ice causes sinking of brine and consequent freshening of near-surface water in areas of natural discharge. Although recharge of basal meltwater is limited by the requirement that water pressure at the base of the ice sheet not exceed the pressure exerted by the weight of the ice, warm-based ice with basal melting creates a potential for groundwater recharge rates much larger than those of present, ice-free conditions. In the simulations, regional-scale redistribution of recharged water by subsurface flow is minor over the duration of a glacial advance (approximately 10 ka). During glacial retreat, significant upward flow of groundwater may occur below the ice sheet owing to pressure release. If the mechanical loading efficiency of the rocks is high, both subsurface penetration of meltwater during glacial advance and up-flow during glacial retreat are reduced because of loading-induced pressure changes. The maximum rate of groundwater discharge in the simulations occurs at the receding ice margin, and some discharge occurs below incursive postglacial seas. Recharge of basal meltwater could decrease the concentration of dissolved solids significantly below present-day levels at depths of up to several kilometers and may bring oxygenated conditions to an otherwise reducing chemical environment for periods exceeding 10 ka.
Intranasal Butorphanol-Induced Apraxia Reversed by Naloxone

Intranasal butorphanol is an opioid agonist-antagonist that is effective for the treatment of acute pain. Common adverse effects associated with the agent are somnolence, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting ; they are readily reversed with naloxone. A patient developed signs and symptoms consistent with apraxia after a single dose of intranasal butorphanol. She was mentally alert, but she was unable to move or speak despite normal muscle tone and reflex movements. When she attempted to speak she had no voluntary control. At the emergency room she was administered naloxone 2 mg intramuscularly, which resulted in complete reversal of the symptoms in a short time. No other published cases describe these findings with butorphanol. Health care professionals should be aware that patients who are prescribed intranasal butorphanol, even in typical doses, may be at risk for such a reaction. This is important because, unlike the injectable formulation, the intranasal product is primarily used in the outpatient setting.
Benzimidazole Analogs Inhibit Human Herpesvirus 6

Several benzimidazole nucleoside analogs, including 1H-β-D-ribofuranosyl-2-bromo-5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole (BDCRB) and 1H-β-L-ribofuranosyl-2-isopropylamino-5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole (maribavir [MBV]), inhibit the replication of human cytomegalovirus. Neither analog inhibited the related betaherpesvirus human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). Additional analogs of these compounds were evaluated against both variants of HHV-6, and two L-analogs of BDCRB had good antiviral activity against HHV-6A, as well as more modest inhibition of HHV-6B replication.
Relationship Difficulties as a Conduit from Hyperactivity to Depressive Symptoms

Based on the interpersonal model of depression, disrupted social relationships can lead to depression and childhood hyperactivity can disrupt those crucial relationships. Hyperactivity and the interactions between hyperactivity and interpersonal relations/social support in predicting depression are investigated based on data collected from 100 youth aged 8–14 and their parents. Hierarchical multiple regression indicated main effects for children’s report of hyperactivity and classmate support and an interaction between hyperactivity and classmate support in predicting children’s report of depression. Using parent’s report of child hyperactivity, there was a main effect for classmate support and an interaction between hyperactivity and parent report of family cohesion in predicting depressive symptoms. Results are consistent with past research, suggesting hyperactivity may compromise family and peer relationships, leading to depressive symptoms.
Identifying Changes in Comfort and Worry Among Pediatric Nursing Students Following Clinical Rotations

Pediatric nursing clinicals often cause feelings of worry, thus hindering students' discovery. This study sought to identify worry-provoking elements before and after pediatric clinical rotations. Participants included 100 pediatric nursing students. A descriptive, exploratory, quantitative design was used to explore student worry using the Pediatric Student Comfort and Worry Assessment Tool. Pre- and post-test scores were calculated to evaluate changes in worry and comfort. The item that changed the most was comfort in assessment, whereas worry regarding causing a child pain changed the least. These data suggest the significant need in identifying worries to improve confidence in performance for pediatric clinical.
Rotationally resolved electronic spectrum of jet-cooled deuterated cyclopentadienyl radical

The completely rotationally resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectrum of the perdeutero cyclopentadienyl radical, C5D5, is obtained in a supersonic free jet expansion. Combination of the rotational constants of C5D5 with those previously obtained for C5D5 allow the determination of the r0 structure. A discussion of the radical's geometry is based upon this structure as well as the observed nuclear spin statistics, the inertial defect, and the Jahn-Teller distortion parameters.