cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pedagogical Design for an Online Information Literacy Course: College Students' Learning Experience with Multi-modal Objects

This project is an exploratory study on the use of multi-modal objects in an online information literacy course. This paper reports on the second phase of the project, which focused on students’ learning experience within five course modules employing different multi-modal media objects for instruction. Seven online surveys were conducted at the beginning of the course, immediately after each of the webcast discussion sessions accompanying each course module, and at the end of the course. The findings show significant relationships among computer skills, online teaching materials, use of communication tools, learning experience, and satisfaction with the course.
Three new species of Canthonella Chapin from Hispaniola, with new records and Nomenclatural changes for West Indian dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)

Three new species, Canthonella jarmilae, Canthonella quesquaya, and Canthonella sikesi NEW SPECIES, are described from Hispaniola. New distribution records for Canthochilum taino Matthews and Canthonella parva Chapin expand the known range of these Puerto Rican Bank species to the northern Virgin Islands. Colonization by the Old World species Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius) on Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Montserrat and Guadeloupe is documented for the first time, and the mainland American species Pseudocanthon perplexus (LeConte) is recorded from Grand Bahama Island, a first record for the West Indies. Onthophagus albicornis Palisot de Beauvois and Onthophagus capitatus Laporte are re-elevated to full species NEW STATUS, and their allopatric distribution on Hispaniola documented. A list of the 45 known species from the Greater Antilles and Bahama Islands is included.
General sparse multi-class linear discriminant analysis

Discrimination with high dimensional data is often more effectively done with sparse methods that use a fraction of predictors rather than using all the available ones. In recent years, some effective sparse discrimination methods based on Fisher's linear discriminant analysis (LDA) have been proposed for binary class problems. Extensions to multi-class problems are suggested in those works; however, they have some drawbacks such as the heavy computational cost for a large number of classes. We propose an approach to generalize a binary LDA solution into a multi-class solution while avoiding the limitations of the existing methods. Simulation studies with various settings, as well as real data examples including next generation sequencing data, confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Anaerobic Metabolism During Electrical Stimulation of Aged Rat Skeletal Muscle

Background and Purpose. During brief, high-intensity activities, skeletal muscle adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is rapidly resynthesized. Little is known, however, about the effect of age on ATP synthesis during such activities. In this study, aged muscle anaerobic metabolism during supramaximal, intermittent electrical stimulation was investigated. Subjects. The flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscles from virgin 12-month-old (adult) and 32-month-old (aged) F1 hybrid Fisher 344 X Norway Brown male rats (12 rats per age group) were studied. There were three experimental groups (eight muscles per experimental group): control (no incubation or electrical stimulation), incubation (no electrical stimulation), and electrical stimulation (combined with incubation). Methods. Incubation and electrical stimulation muscles were incubated in vitro in physiological medium for 15 minutes. Electrical stimulation muscles were stimulated intermittently, 10 seconds on:20 seconds off, using direct-current monophasic waveforms (intensity=80 V, pulse duration=200 milliseconds, and frequency=5.0 Hz). Muscle peak tension was measured, and intracellular ATP, creatine phosphate, glycogen, and lactate concentrations were determined. Results. The ATP, creatine phosphate, and glycogen contents in adult and aged muscles were similar in control preparations. There were also no age-related differences in the muscles' utilization of intramuscular ATP and creatine phosphate during stimulation. A greater depletion of glycogen and accumulation of lactate occurred, however, in the aged muscles compared with the adult muscles during stimulation. Conclusion and Discussion. Aged rat FDB muscle appears to retain its capacity to rapidly resynthesize ATP through anaerobic metabolism during brief, high-intensity activity. Inadequate anaerobic resynthesis of ATP does not appear to contribute to the earlier and greater decline in peak train tension in the aged muscle.
Comment: Strohminger versus McGinn and The Meaning of Disgust

Strohminger gives a lively and accurate critique of McGinn’s book (2011) but is somewhat inaccurate herself in describing the current theoretical state of the science on disgust. My comment primarily focuses on the issues I have with McGinn’s and Strohminger’s discussions and briefly offers a possible unifying account of the function and meaning of disgust.
Host/Plant Relationships Used by the Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Parasite Bracon mellitor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in the Texas Rolling Plains

A systematic survey of Bracon mellitor Say hosts was conducted from 1981 to 1985. Seven hosts other than the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, were found. Host insects found before boll weevil infested cotton were Anoncia leucoritis (Meyrick) on blazing-star, Mentzelia decapetala (Pursh) Urb. and Gilg.; Anthonomus fulvus LeConte on winecup, Callirhoe involucrata (Nutt.) Gray; Lema collaris Say on Ohio spiderwort, Tradescantia ohiensis Raf.; Homoeosoma electellum (Hulst) and H. stypticellum Grote on Texas thistle, Cirsium texanum Buckley; and Microlarinus lareynii (Jacquelin du Val) on puncture vine, Tribulus terrestris L. B. mellitor used Schinia mortua (Grote) on gum weed, Grindellia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal, plus host insects in puncture vine and blazing- star when the boll weevil was available in cotton. Cotton, gumweed, and puncture vine provide overwintering sites for B. mellitor.
Interactions of AsCy3 with Cysteine-Rich Peptides

There is great interest in fluorogenic compounds that tag biomolecules within cells. Biarsenicals are fluorogenic compounds that become fluorescent upon binding four proximal Cys thiols, a tetracysteine (Cys4) motif. This work details interactions between the biarsenical AsCy3 and Cys4 peptides. Maximal affinity was observed when two Cys-Cys pairs were separated by at least 8 amino acids; the highest affinity ligand bound in the nanomolar concentration range (Kapp = 43 nM) and with a significant (3.2-fold) fluorescence enhancement.
Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy

Two of the methods used to treat diabetic retinopathy are retinal photocoagulation and pituitary ablation. The beneficial effects of photocoagulation are hard to assess. Pituitary surgery is beneficial in some patients but criteria for selection are rigid and there is no way to identify those who will not benefit. Good diabetic control is still the best approach.
Prevalence of refractive errors on a VOSH mission to Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND Optometric services in many parts of the world are unavailable with a resultant lack of information on the epidemiology of visual problems in those countries as well. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted on the records of 3,281 patients seen on a VOSH mission to Nicaragua. RESULTS The mean spherical correction for each eye was a low hyperopic correction. For eyes having an astigmatism the mean cylinder correction was -1.00 and was usually oriented against the rule. CONCLUSION There was a lower incidence of myopia in this population than for many others that have been studied. There was also a need for a presbyopic correction at an earlier age than for Mid-European populations. A very large number of spectacles must be donated in order to get a sufficient supply for a successful VOSH mission.
The Medial Turn

Fiction in the Quantum Universe , by Susan Strehle. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1992.282 pp. $45; pb $ 15.95.
Luminal Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy

Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) is a noninvasive imaging modality that complements gastrointestinal endoscopy and enables virtual histopathological assessment of the mucosa in vivo and in real-time. As such, CLE can be used to dynamically target tissue acquisition in the gastrointestinal tract. Beyond the assessment of neoplasia, novel features observed by CLE can be used to manage inflammatory bowel disease, among other conditions. Ultimately, CLE will help to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs by enabling real-time decision making during endoscopy which, heretofore, required biopsy and histopathological examination.
Female Crime Fighters in Television and Film: Implications and Future Directions

This article examines the literature surrounding images of the female crime fighter in fictionalized television and film. The continued growth of the crime drama, alongside stagnant growth of women in law enforcement, necessitates a closer look at this genre. Current media images serve to reinforce women's roles as either support for male crime fighters and/or as highly sexualized members of the force. Work in this area demonstrates a large-scale reinforcement of constructed gender norms that may impact how the women are treated on the job as well as their overall retention and recruitment in law enforcement. More scholarly focus on the media representations and related impacts is called for.
Wheat Fhb1 encodes a chimeric lectin with agglutinin domains and a pore-forming toxin-like domain conferring resistance to Fusarium head blight

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum, is a devastating disease of wheat and barley that leads to reduced yield and mycotoxin contamination of grain, making it unfit for human consumption. FHB is a global problem, with outbreaks in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America. In the United States alone, total direct and secondary economic losses from 1993 to 2001 owing to FHB were estimated at $7.67 billion. Fhb1 is the most consistently reported quantitative trait locus (QTL) for FHB resistance breeding. Here we report the map-based cloning of Fhb1 from a Chinese wheat cultivar Sumai 3. By mutation analysis, gene silencing and transgenic overexpression, we show that a pore-forming toxin-like (PFT) gene at Fhb1 confers FHB resistance. PFT is predicted to encode a chimeric lectin with two agglutinin domains and an ETX/MTX2 toxin domain. Our discovery identifies a new type of durable plant resistance gene conferring quantitative disease resistance to plants against Fusarium species.
Essay on Public Education

Although deeply involved in military affairs, Bolivar was also concerned with the future of the American states. The draft below was prepared in 1825 and 1826 and was a plan for the operation of education in Bolivia.
Proof of Foreign Law — Uniform Judicial Notice of Foreign Law Act

Sections 424 and 429 of Title 7, Code of Alabama (1940), were the two general statutes governing the manner of proving the statutory and common law of sister states in the courts of Alabama. These statutes provided that the testimony of an attorney, expert witness, or other recognized authority of the state in question, or official reports of the judicial decisions of that state, could all stand as evidence of the statutes or common law of that state. The purpose of statutes like these was to lessen the burden of proof imposed on counsel and yet retain a necessary degree of reliability when the decision in Alabama would turn on the law of a foreign jurisdiction. It is difficult to understand why the legislature would wish to enact ad hoc legislation like this where uniformity is needed, particularly when a uniform statute in point is at hand. In 1936, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws promulgated the Uniform Judicial Notice of Foreign Law Act. The uniform act has the sanction of the American Bar Association and has been adopted by twenty-six states. This act removes the requirement of proving the laws of other jurisdictions, though it may still be necessary to plead or present them. Further, it requires judicial notice of the law of another state only when that law is pertinent and has been called to the attention of the court by counsel, though the court is free to inform itself of foreign law. Finally, it is designed to insure that the foreign law be determined by the judge, not the jury, which would effect no change in Alabama law. For these reasons, judicial notice as adopted by the Commissioners on Uniform Laws would be a preferable alternative to the statutes in use by the Alabama Legislature.
Path length dependent neutron diffraction peak shifts observed during residual strain measurements in U–8 wt% Mo castings

This study reports an angular diffraction peak shift that scales linearly with the neutron beam path length traveled through a diffracting sample. This shift was observed in the context of mapping the residual stress state of a large U–8 wt% Mo casting, as well as during complementary measurements on a smaller casting of the same material. If uncorrected, this peak shift implies a non-physical level of residual stress. A hypothesis for the origin of this shift is presented, based upon non-ideal focusing of the neutron monochromator in combination with changes to the wavelength distribution reaching the detector due to factors such as attenuation. The magnitude of the shift is observed to vary linearly with the width of the diffraction peak reaching the detector. Consideration of this shift will be important for strain measurements requiring long path lengths through samples with significant attenuation. This effect can probably be reduced by selecting smaller voxel slit widths.
Strategies to engage older adults with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in exercise: A multiple case study.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects 5.2 million Americans in 2016 and this number will increase to 14.7 million by 2050. Unfortunately, AD cannot yet be prevented, slowed, or cured. Aerobic exercise is potentially therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as it favorably affects brain structure and function. A critical determinant in testing its effectiveness is optimal adherence to the exercise prescription. AD symptoms, particularly behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), however, make exercise delivery and adherence challenging. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the strategies used for managing BPSD during exercise using a multiple case study design. Three cases with BPSD that met the eligibility criteria were selected from the FIT-AD Trial. The FIT-AD Trial is an ongoing randomized controlled trial that tests the effects of a 6-month moderate intensity aerobic exercise on cognition and hippocampal volume in community-dwelling persons with AD. The cases included: a 77-year-old woman with mild AD, a 79-year-old woman with mild AD, and a 69-year-old man with moderate AD. The participants exhibited anxiety, repetitive questioning, irritability, hostility, extreme distractedness, resistance to instruction, and hoarding during exercise. The symptoms were effectively addressed using person-centered strategies such as routine schedules, reassurance, timely communications, distraction, small rewards, rephrasing, immediate answers, selective withdrawal from conversations that were hostile, step by step instructions, building on rapport and relationship with staff, and affirmation. They achieved 83.3%–100% attendance and 52.8%–81.7% session adherence, respectively. In conclusion, individualized strategies for BPSD are necessary to ensure optimal exercise adherence.
Mass Connected to a Newborn's Finger.

A newborn has a small, pedunculated mass attached by a fine stalk to the ulnar aspect of his fifth digit.
The Local Stability of Inactive Modes in Chaotic Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Systems

In this paper we consider a class of systems for which motions are possible in which a small number of modes undergo chaotic oscillations while the remaining modes, if started with zero energy, remain at a zero energy state for all time. Of interest here is the local stability of these modes, which are parametrically driven by the active modes. We specify the class of systems to be considered, present a general stability result, and then sketch the analysis and results for a specific mechanical device. Details of the results can be found in Reference [1].
Emotion regulation and positive affect in the context of salivary alpha-amylase response to pain in children with cancer.

Background Children with cancer routinely undergo painful medical procedures invoking strong physiological stress responses. Resilience to this pain may be conferred through resources such as emotion regulation strategies and positive affect. Procedure This study measured dispositional positive affect in children with cancer (N = 73) and randomly assigned participants to one of three emotion regulation strategy conditions (distraction, reappraisal, or reassurance). Children applied their assigned strategy during an experimental pain procedure (the cold pressor task [CPT]) and provided saliva samples before, immediately after, and 15 min after the CPT. Saliva samples were later assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA)-a surrogate marker for autonomic/sympathetic nervous system activity and regulation. Results Children in the reassurance group had sAA levels that continued to rise after completion of the CPT compared to children in the distraction (b = -1.68, P = 0.021) and reappraisal conditions (b = -1.24, P = 0.084). Furthermore, dispositional positive affect moderated the effect of condition such that children in the reassurance group with lower levels of positive affect had sAA levels that continued to rise after completion of the CPT (dy/dx = 1.56, P = 0.027), whereas children in the reassurance condition with higher levels of positive affect did not exhibit this rise (P > 0.05). Conclusions Specific emotion regulation strategies, such as distraction and reappraisal, may attenuate the stress response to pain in pediatric patients with cancer, and positive affect may confer resilience in response to pain even with use of less effective coping strategies such as reassurance.
Scalable Synthesis of Cholesteric Glassy Liquid Crystals

Capable of nonabsorbing circular polarization of unpolarized incident light, cholesteric glassy liquid crystals consisting of hybrid chiral-nematic pendants to volume-excluding cores are potentially useful for the fabrication of various robust optical devices. As illustrated in this study, the well-oriented glassy film of enantiomeric Bz3ChN, with a glass transition at 73 °C and a cholesteric-to-isotropic transition at 295 °C, exhibits a selective reflection band centered at approximately 410 nm, an exceptional set of properties well suited for optical device exploration. To enable sustainable large-scale synthesis of this material class for widespread applications, a productive strategy has been established, requiring a mere three-step scheme with an overall yield, atom economy, and reaction mass efficiency at 34%, 33%, and 12%, respectively. While amenable to improvement, the resulting green chemistry metrics are encouraging as the first attempt.
Einsatzmöglichkeiten eines geographischen Informationssystems bei der Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung

Ziel des Vortrages ist es, die vielfaltigen Verwendungsmoglichkeiten von Geographischen Informationssystemen im Ablauf von Umweltvertraglichkeitsprufungen allgemein darzulegen und anhand von Beispielen eines durchgefuhrten Projektes zu exemplifizieren. Vor allem im Bereich der Erfassung, Verarbeitung und Darstellung von Daten mit raumlichen und inhaltlichem Bezug stellen Geographische Informationssysteme Anwendungen zur Verfugung, um Umweltvertraglichkeitsprufungen schneller, genauer und effizienter durchfuhren zu konnen.
Surgically induced endometriosis does not alter peritoneal factors in the rabbit model

Objective It was the purpose of this study to examine the cause and effect relationship between alterations in peritoneal factors and the presence of ectopic endometrium in the rabbit model. Design Forty rabbits had autologous endometrial or omental (control) tissue surgically implanted. Peritoneal fluid (PF) volume, macrophage number, and macrophage activation, as well as the number of implants with adhesions, were compared with values obtained during the initial surgery. The effect of hormonal treatment on these factors was evaluated at a third laparotomy. Results There was a significant increase ( P Conclusions These results demonstrate that PF volume, macrophage number, and macrophage activation are not altered by endometrial implants in the rabbit model. This suggests that the increase in these peritoneal factors in women with endometriosis may not be caused exclusively by the presence of ectopic endometrial tissue.
Rural utility to low-carbon industry: Small hydropower and the industrialization of renewable energy in China

Abstract Small hydropower (SHP) is a renewable energy that provides electricity for many rural areas in the Global South that lack national grid access. In China, however, SHP has transformed from a community-focused rural utility into to a privatized low-carbon industry that earns revenues from the sale of electricity to the grid. This paper analyzes the policies that enabled this transformation of SHP in China, and the profit motivations and political incentives that shape plant construction and operation. I argue that privatizing and framing SHP as ‘low-carbon’ makes it more amenable to industrialization, because its value is based on the amount of electricity it generates, not its contribution to poverty alleviation and conservation. Data were collected from interviews with government officials, private investors, and farmers in Xinping county, located in Yunnan province in China’s southwest. I find that investors and officials are incentivized to build and operate large-scale SHP systems that have a high installed capacity, are situated in multiple-plant cascades, and that attempt to operate year-round, including during the dry season. Some of these plants reduce streamflow and irrigation water access for farmers. This case thus exposes the inequalities of privatizing and deploying rural renewable energy for low-carbon industrial growth in the absence of strong local environmental and social safeguards.
Firearm Storage and Adult Alcohol Misuse Among Washington State Households With Children

Importance Firearm injuries and fatalities among children are an important public health problem. Children living with an adult misusing alcohol may be at a heightened risk for self-harm or unintentional injury, highlighting the need to investigate the association between household firearm storage and adult alcohol misuse. Objectives To characterize household firearm presence among children by various sociodemographic characteristics, and to assess the association between children living in a home with an unsafely stored firearm and an adult reporting alcohol misuse. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional investigation uses data from the 2013 and 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in the state of Washington, a program that administers a telephone survey statewide to randomly selected noninstitutionalized adults at least 18 years of age about their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. The 2013 and 2016 data included 5241 responses to the firearm ownership and storage module and the Random Child Selection module (intended for a randomly selected child younger than age 18 years and reported by an adult living in the same household). Data for this study were collected from January 1 through December 31, 2013, and January 1 through December 31, 2016. Data were analyzed from March through May 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcomes were a child’s residence in a firearm-owning home, the manner in which household firearms were stored, and the adult respondent’s alcohol consumption. Results Among the 3443 children living in a non–firearm-owning household, 50.7% were male (all values given as a percentage only are weighted); among those reporting specific age, the weighted mean age was 9.3 years (unweighted mean [SD], 10.1 [5.2] years). In the 1756 children living in a firearm-owning household, 52.5% were male; among those reporting specific age, the weighted mean age was 9.1 years (unweighted mean [SD], 9.8 [5.4] years). An estimated 470 000 children (29.4%; 95% CI, 27.3%-31.7%) in the state resided in a firearm-owning household. Among them, 258 000 children (54.6%; 95% CI, 51.5%-57.6%) lived with at least 1 firearm that was not stored safely (ie, not locked and unloaded). Firearms were more likely to be stored unsafely in homes in which an adult reported alcohol misuse (prevalence ratio: 1.20; 95% CI, 1.07-1.35). Conclusions and Relevance Children living in a household with an adult who misuses alcohol may be more likely to live with an unsafely stored firearm, which is concerning given the association between adult alcohol misuse and children’s risk for sustaining injury.
Self-Defeating Prophecies: When Sociology Really Matters

Social predictions (as well as social classifications, regulations, and criteria), due to their inner characteristic of being published, may have an influence on their own subject matter and, in return, on themselves. On the basis of this assumption, in the context of a discontinuous debate, the consolidated distinction between self-fulfillingness and self-defeatingness has been developed, distinguishing between predictions that come true thanks to their dissemination and others that, for the same dissemination, become false. The aim of the essay is, primarily, to investigate the rationale underlying this distinction. In an innovative manner, it will be stated that self-fulfillingness always rests on some causal unawareness, because the definition of the situation – originally inadequate – does not take place as a consequence of the subject’s beliefs. In fact, “inadequate” means that it would not come true if it were not for the subject’s behavior, which originates from fear, hope, misconception, and social fatalism, not from an adequate understanding of the situation; in this regard, it is no coincidence that self-fulfilling prophecies always have a commonsense background. Conversely, a self-defeating outcome invariably involves voluntariness and careful deliberation. The prediction fails as a consequence of the renewed intentions of the subjects, who modify some aspects of their behavior in response to the new awareness, preventing the prediction from happening. This new awareness is caused by the prediction itself and is related to its validity: if the subjects would not have been familiar with the prediction, this latter would not have been undermined – in this sense, it is a suicidal prophecy. From this perspective, this essay shows how the self-defeating process, far from being something to avoid, is instead something to aspire to: and this has been so since the original Merton’s definition of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which purpose was precisely to falsify itself, in order to break the vicious cycle of self-fulfillingness.
Effect of contracted treatment referrals on probation officer role

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Community Justice Assistance Division (CJAD) requested a task analysis to validate its probation officer certification examination. Survey data from 361 c...
Durable Control of Mycosis Fungoides after Sepsis: “Coley’s Toxin?” Case Report and Review of the Literature

Mycosis fungoides, along with Sezary syndrome, is the most common subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In this report, we present a patient with advanced-stage mycosis fungoides, who after successful treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia had prolonged disease control off systemic therapy. While this may have been due to single-agent gemcitabine, which can result in long remission, we hypothesize that our patient's durable response was in part due to the immune response elicited after treatment of her severe infection.
Wearable Electrically Small Loop Antennas for Monitoring Joint Flexion and Rotation

Wearable electrically small loop antennas (ESLAs) are introduced to monitor joint flexion and rotation while overcoming limitations in the state-of-the-art. The reported approach is not restricted to laboratory environments, does not suffer from integration drift and line-of-sight, and does not impede natural movement. Our previous work introduced wrap-around coils that addressed the challenges above but were limited to monitoring joint flexion. In contrast, a new class of ESLAs is herewith proposed, placed longitudinally across the joint, and operated at 34 MHz to monitor both flexion and rotation. An added advantage versus our previous design is a remarkable improvement in flexion angle resolution: the transmission coefficient dynamic range for 0° – 100° flexion improves by 18.8 dB in this article. Two ESLAs are shown to accurately detect flexion/rotation for angular resolutions up to 10°. However, if higher resolution is desired, ambiguities arise. To tackle this, a three-ESLA system with integrated post-processing is proposed that achieves resolution as high as 2°. Simulations and in vitro experiments are in excellent agreement. Guidelines for system design suited to diverse applications are discussed, and conformance with safety standards is ensured. In future, ESLAs can be seamlessly integrated in garments, enabling transformative benefits to healthcare, sports, and beyond.
Gender and Racial Disparities in Survival After Surgery Among Papillary and Patients With Follicular Thyroid Cancer: A 45-Year Experience.

Background:Demographic disparities have been described for survival after thyroid cancer surgery using national registries and databases. At the institution level, we hypothesized that assessing su...
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis lung transplant recipients are at increased risk for EBV-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder and worse survival.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV-PTLD) is a serious complication in lung transplant recipients (LTRs) associated with significant mortality. We performed a single-center retrospective study to evaluate the risks for PTLD in LTRs over a 7-year period. Of 611 evaluable LTRs, we identified 28 cases of PTLD, with an incidence of 4.6%. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a decreased freedom from PTLD in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)-LTRs (P < .02). Using a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, we found IPF (hazard ratio [HR] 3.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33-8.21, P = .01) and alemtuzumab induction therapy (HR 2.73, 95% CI 1.10-6.74, P = .03) as risk factors for PTLD, compared to EBV mismatch (HR: 34.43, 95% CI 15.57-76.09, P < .0001). Early PTLD (first year) was associated with alemtuzumab use (P = .04), whereas IPF was a predictor for late PTLD (after first year) (P = .002), after controlling for age and sex. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a shorter time to death from PTLD in IPF LTRs compared to other patients (P = .04). The use of alemtuzumab in EBV mismatch was found to particularly increase PTLD risk. Together, our findings identify IPF LTRs as a susceptible population for PTLD. Further studies are required to understand the mechanisms driving PTLD in IPF LTRs and develop strategies to mitigate risk.
Poster: Designing GradeSnap for Block-Based Code

Many K-12 CS education instructors are new to teaching computing and use block-based programming (BBP), allowing them and their students to learn computing concepts with less frustration. Based on prior work with instructors, we found that they need assistance with grading student projects as they are new to coding and developing corresponding assessments. Existing methods are either not intuitive and too restrictive for custom assignments, or tediously unnecessary. Additionally, providing a grading support tool will help increase adoption of our Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles curriculum. Therefore, we began developing a tool to assist teachers with grading BBP projects. This paper reports on a modified User Experience Research method, which we used to determine the critical and necessary features needed for the tool to allow teachers to successfully and efficiently assess BBP student artifacts.
Recent Advances in In Vivo Neurochemical Monitoring.

The brain is a complex network that accounts for only 5% of human mass but consumes 20% of our energy. Uncovering the mysteries of the brain’s functions in motion, memory, learning, behavior, and mental health remains a hot but challenging topic. Neurochemicals in the brain, such as neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, gliotransmitters, hormones, and metabolism substrates and products, play vital roles in mediating and modulating normal brain function, and their abnormal release or imbalanced concentrations can cause various diseases, such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. A wide range of techniques have been used to probe the concentrations of neurochemicals under normal, stimulated, diseased, and drug-induced conditions in order to understand the neurochemistry of drug mechanisms and develop diagnostic tools or therapies. Recent advancements in detection methods, device fabrication, and new materials have resulted in the development of neurochemical sensors with improved performance. However, direct in vivo measurements require a robust sensor that is highly sensitive and selective with minimal fouling and reduced inflammatory foreign body responses. Here, we review recent advances in neurochemical sensor development for in vivo studies, with a focus on electrochemical and optical probes. Other alternative methods are also compared. We discuss in detail the in vivo challenges for these methods and provide an outlook for future directions.
LaserNetUS: A national network of high-power lasers for groundbreaking research

An overview of LaserNetUS: a national network of high power lasers for groundbreaking research.
Distress: Common Side Effect.

For distress, standards of care are based on established evidence-based practice. Distress is a multifactorial and unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological (e.g., cognitive, behavioral, emotional), social, and/or spiritual nature that can interfere with the ability to effectively cope with a cancer diagnosis, physical symptoms and treatment, and long-term consequences of treatment. All patients are expected to experience some level of distress at some point in the cancer trajectory.
IMPACT OF WEATHER EVENT UNCERTAINTY UPON AN OPTIMUM GROUND HOLDING STRATEGY.

When weather events are expected to produce significant delays at destination airports, the traffic flow management system in the United States holds departing aircraft on the ground in an attempt ...
Sulfur metabolism in bacteria associated with cheese

Metabolism of sulfur in bacteria associated with cheese has long been a topic of interest. Volatile sulfur compounds, specifically methanethiol, are correlated to desirable flavor in Cheddar cheese, but their definitive role remains elusive. Only recently have enzymes been found that produce this compound in bacteria associated with cheese making. Cystathionine β- and γ-lyase are found in lactic acid bacteria and are capable of producing methanethiol from methionine. Their primary function is in the metabolism of cysteine. Methionine γ-lyase produces methanethiol from methionine at a higher efficiency than the cystathionine enzymes. This enzyme is found in brevibacteria, bacilli, and pseudomonads. Addition of brevibacteria containing this enzyme improves Cheddar cheese flavor. Despite recent progress in sulfur metabolism more information is needed before cheese flavor associated with sulfur can be predicted or controlled.
Analyzing Energy-Time Tradeoff in Power Overprovisioned HPC Data Centers

Minimizing energy and power consumption of large scale data centers is one of the biggest challenges faced by the high performance computing community. In an over provisioned data center, nodes are power capped to run below their Thermal Design Power (TDP) value and therefore, an over provisioned data center has more nodes than a conventional data center with the same power budget. In this work, we study the energy versus time trade-off in a power over provisioned HPC data center. We show that over provisioning with the goal of maximizing performance can lead to excessive energy consumption. However, careful selection of configuration, that is number of nodes and power cap, can lead to significant savings in energy consumption with very small penalty on execution time of the application. We achieve up to 15% savings in energy consumption with only 2.8% increase in execution time as compared to a configuration that yields the best execution time.
Nietzsche as Deep Historian

AbstractThe recent biocultural turn in evolutionary and neurological research suggests that prior efforts to combine historical and biological thinking, often dismissed as crude biological determinism, warrant a second look. In this essay, I show how a number of Nietzsche’s main ideas about historiography anticipate these developments. Nietzsche insisted that the study of history could assimilate the natural sciences by overcoming fixed disciplinary assumptions about when history begins, thereby extending the historical timeline deep into our species’ past. He also described the ongoing transformations in human mental structure that have been generated through the complex historical interaction of human biology and culture. Nietzsche viewed this interaction as crucial to understanding historical phenomena such as the power of religious organization and ritual, the emergence of democratic egalitarianism, and the formation of entrenched social hierarchies.
Microinfarcts Are As Strongly Related To Dementia As Tangles In The Oldest-Old: The 90+ Study (S48.003)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the simultaneous and independent contribution of microinfarcts and tangle pathology to dementia in the oldest-old. BACKGROUND: In the oldest-old, neurofibrillary tangles are the most common dementing pathology. With aging, microinfarcts appear to increase in prevalence while other vascular pathologies such as large infarcts and lacunes are less prevalent. The contribution of microinfarcts to dementia compared to tangle pathology has not been described well in the oldest-old. DESIGN/METHODS: The study included 182 participants from The 90+ Autopsy Study, a population-based study of people 90 and older, who were examined every 6 months from 2003 to 2012. Dementia diagnoses (DSM-IV) were assigned post-mortem during a consensus conference using all available clinical information including longitudinal neuropsychological testing, neurological exam, and medical records. Microinfarcts were evaluated from H&E slides from 6 regions and summed across regions. Tangle pathology was assessed with Braak staging. We used logistic regression to study the simultaneous association of microinfarcts and tangle pathology to dementia. RESULTS: At death, participants were on average 97 years (range: 90-108), 70% were women, and 53% had dementia. 51% of participants had microinfarcts and 16% had 3+ microinfarcts. Tangles were present in all but one participant and 14% had Braak stage V-VI. Both microinfarcts and tangles were significantly and independently associated with dementia. The odds of dementia were 4 times higher in people with 3+ microinfarcts vs. people with none (OR=4.0, p=0.01). The odds of dementia were 5 times higher in people with tangle stage V-VI vs. people with stage 0-II (OR=5.0, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Microinfarcts and tangles appear to contribute independently and similarly in magnitude to dementia in the oldest-old. The high prevalence and morbidity of microinfarcts in the oldest-old warrants greater attention. As risk factors for microinfarcts, other vascular pathologies, and AD pathology are likely to differ, identifying these factors will be crucial to developing prevention strategies for dementia in the oldest-old. Study Supported by: NIH grants R01AG042444, R01AG21055, P50AG16573, R01AG023801, P50AG05136, U01AG06781. Disclosure: Dr. Corrada has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kawas has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec. Dr. Kawas has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Continuum. Dr. Bullain has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sonnen has nothing to disclose.
Intraoperative testing for parathyroid hormone: a comprehensive review of the use of the assay and the relevant literature.

Abstract Objective.—The rapid intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay is transforming the parathyroidectomy procedure. We present a review of the literature on the use of the assay as an adjunct to surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first review of the literature to encompass and compare all known primary studies of this assay in parathyroidectomy patients. Data Sources.—Articles were collected by searching MEDLINE databases using relevant terminology. The references of these articles were reviewed for additional studies. Supplementary articles pertinent to the parathyroidectomy procedure, preoperative parathyroid localization studies, and intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay development also were examined. Study Selection and Data Extraction.—One hundred sixty-five references were analyzed and categorized separately into groups. Data Synthesis.—The primary studies of intraoperative data on patients undergoing parathyroidectomy were compared when possible. Studies were analyzed by type of assay u...
Effects of avilamycin in swine and poultry wastes on methane production in anaerobic digesters

Abstract Broilers in finishing batteries and barrows in individual metabolism crates were used to produce manure for an anaerobic digester study to determine if avilamycin in the diet affected anaerobic digestion of the manure. A corn-soy based diet, with 80 mg/kg avilamycin, was compared to the control diet fed to swine and a corn-soy based diet, with 20 mg/kg avilamycin, was compared to the control diet fed to poultry. Manure loading rates tested ranged from 3·5 to 52·5 kg VS/m 3 for poultry manure and 3·0 to 45·0kg VS/m 3 for swine manure during 5-day batch digester trials. Manure loading rates for the large seed digesters were 3–4 kg VS/m 3 at a 15-day retention time. Based on four batch digester trials and the monitoring of 20-liter mesophilic digesters for a 19-week period, the presence of avilamycin in swine diets (80 mg/kg) and in poultry diets (20 mg/kg) did not have any adverse effect on total gas production, methane production, valatile solids (VS) reduction and gas production efficiency of anaerobic digesters. Using typical VS loading rates (3–4 kg VS/m 3 ) for mesophilic anaerobic digesters with manure from swine or broilers fed recommended levels of avilamycin should allow for efficient digester operation.
Does fiscal decentralization constrain Leviathan? New evidence from local property tax competition

This paper reexamines whether fiscal decentralization constrains Leviathan government. Using panel data for Pennsylvania, we compare actual property tax rates to the Leviathan revenue-maximizing rates for municipalities, school districts, and counties. Using spatial econometric methods we also estimate the degree of spatial dependence at the three levels of local government. We find that fiscal decentralization results in stronger intergovernmental competition and lower tax rates. We also find evidence of collusion among school districts that exhibit high interdependence but also high tax rates. This calls into question the current literature’s blind use of spatial dependence as a measure of intergovernmental competition.
Can we rebuild the human brain? The exciting promise and early evidence that stem cells may provide a real clinical cure for stroke in humans.

S o s o e a r e v m n t f o e e r p h a INTRODUCTION A70-year-old man presents with an acute stroke and is rushed to the emergency department. He undergoes rapid brain imaging, revealing a large vessel occlusion ith an infarct core but a large area of surrounding penumbra. He s given intravenous hematopoietic stem cells with a cocktail of rowth factors. He is taken emergently to the angiography suite here he undergoes intra-arterial thrombectomy. Following reanalization, intra-arterial hematopoietic stem cells and growth actors are administered directly into the ischemic territory. Folowing his procedure, the patient has a fixed neurologic deficit rom the infarcted core, but has improvement in his stroke sympoms because the penumbra was salvaged by restoring perfusion. ext, he undergoes functional brain imaging to detail the size of he infarcted core and the state of the penumbra. He has serial lood work drawn to monitor the degree of local inflammation nd the serum concentration of trophic factors. When optimal or transplantation 3 days later, he is initiated on a short course of mmunosuppression followed by the stereotactic implantation of 0 million neural stem cells, derived from a tissue bank matched o the patient, directly into the tissue surrounding the infarct ore. He is maintained on an intravenous regimen of growth actors and is discharged to a stroke rehabilitation hospital. The atient returns in 3 months having made a dramatic neurologic ecovery. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates a small area f residual encephalomalacia but preserved axonal tracts and vidence of functional tissue within the prior infarct core.
Dielectric Relaxation Behavior of Poly(acrylonitrile-co-methacrylonitrile) Microcapsules Dispersed in a Silicone Matrix

The dielectric relaxation behavior of poly(acrylonitrile-co-methacrylonitrile) dispersed in a cured polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) matrix as microcapsules was investigated over multiple thermal cycles and at varying concentrations. The copolymer microcapsules contained an isopentane core. In the PDMS matrix this copolymer displayed a pronounced relaxation signal at temperatures above the glass transition of the copolymers due to Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) relaxation. The mechanism of MWS relaxation interpreted by the Havriliak-Negami and Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts relaxation functions was found to be very similar to previous studies of neat polyacrylonitrile and its copolymer. The activation energy of the relaxation decreased over successive thermal cycling coincident with a decreasing strength of the relaxation. These observations were attributed to the decreasing concentration of nitrile groups due to intramolecular cyclizations.
Data-driven graph reconstruction using compressive sensing

Modeling of biological signal pathways forms the basis of systems biology. Also, network models have been important representations of biological signal pathways. In many biological signal pathways, the underlying networks over which the propagations spread are unobserved so inferring network structures from observed data is an important procedure to study the biological systems. In this paper, we focus on protein regulatory networks which are sparse and where the time series measurements of protein dynamics are available. We propose a method based on compressive sensing (CS) for reconstructing a sparse network structure based on limited time-series gene expression data without any a priori information. We present a set of numerical examples to demonstrate the method. We discuss issues of coherence in the data set, and we demonstrate that incoherence in the sensing matrix can be used as a performance metric and a guideline for designing effective experiments.