cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genetic dissection of powdery mildew resistance in interspecific half-sib grapevine families using SNP-based maps.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification in perennial fruit crops is impeded largely by their lengthy generation time, resulting in costly and labor-intensive maintenance of breeding programs. In a grapevine (genus Vitis) breeding program, although experimental families are typically unreplicated, the genetic backgrounds may contain similar progenitors previously selected due to their contribution of favorable alleles. In this study, we investigated the utility of joint QTL identification provided by analyzing half-sib families. The genetic control of powdery mildew was studied using two half-sib F1 families, namely GE0711/1009 (MN1264 × MN1214; N = 147) and GE1025 (MN1264 × MN1246; N = 125) with multiple species in their ancestry. Maternal genetic maps consisting of 1077 and 1641 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, respectively, were constructed using a pseudo-testcross strategy. Ratings of field resistance to powdery mildew were obtained based on whole-plant evaluation of disease severity. This 2-year analysis uncovered two QTLs that were validated on a consensus map in these half-sib families with improved precision relative to the parental maps. Examination of haplotype combinations based on the two QTL regions identified strong association of haplotypes inherited from 'Seyval blanc', through MN1264, with powdery mildew resistance. This investigation also encompassed the use of microsatellite markers to establish a correlation between 206-bp (UDV-015b) and 357-bp (VViv67) fragment sizes with resistance-carrying haplotypes. Our work is one of the first reports in grapevine demonstrating the use of SNP-based maps and haplotypes for QTL identification and tagging of powdery mildew resistance in half-sib families.
On Modeling CO2 Dynamics in a Flood Plain Aquifer

Abstract Knowledge about the timing and magnitude of CO2 fluxes in soils and groundwater is a critical component of the global carbon budget. However, significant uncertainty is associated with predictions of carbon fluxes in soils due to water-rock interactions, redox reactions and other biogeochemical processes that affect carbon turnover and distribution in the subsurface. The objective of this study is to infer the relative contribution of different pathways (such as atmospheric exchange, precipitation/dissolution of carbonate minerals, and biotic heterotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic reactions) on carbon fluxes at a flood plain site in Rifle, Colorado. A 2-D biogeochemical reactive transport model has been developed for the unsaturated-saturated zone of the Rifle site. Results from model simulations suggest the need to include microbial contributions from chemolithoautotrophic processes (e.g., sulfur and iron oxidation) and temperature gradients to match locally-observed high CO2 concentrations in the unsaturated zone. Ignoring these processes leads to a significant underprediction of carbon fluxes at the site.
Cellulitis: Commonly Misdiagnosed or Just Misunderstood?

In the February 2017 issue of JAMA Dermatology, Weng and colleagues1 reported a high rate of misdiagnosis and unnecessary care delivered to patients in the emergency department (ED) hospitalized with the diagnosis of lower extremity cellulitis. Based on a subsequent change in diagnosis during hospitalization or within 30 days of discharge, the authors found that 79 (30.5%) of 259 patients admitted to the hospital from the ED with a diagnosis of cellulitis did not actually have the disease. The most common cause of mistaken diagnosis was a vascular condition such as stasis dermatitis.
Purification of quorum-sensing peptide pheromones secreted by the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes using fractionation and mass-spectrometry

Introduction: Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus, GAS) is the causative agent of many human diseases, including pharyngitis, rheumatic fever and necrotizing fasciitis. Recent studies indicate Streptococci produce and respond to several secreted signaling peptides that are imported into the cell and subsequently bind to regulator proteins of the Rgg family. In GAS, four Rgg paralogs exist, each serving as transcriptional regulators of genes associated with pathogenesis (RopB), biofilm induction (Rgg2 and Rgg3), or a cryptic competence regulon (ComR). The genes encoding peptide pheromones for modulating the activity of Rgg2, Rgg3 and ComR are known, while the one leading to RopB activation remains unknown. The aim of this study is to identify and elucidate the precursor and active peptide pheromones from culture supernatants that control each Rgg pathway. Methods: Spent culture media was fractionated using low-molecular weight filters and reverse phase chromatography steps to isolate peptide pheromones. The activity of HPLC fractions was tested by luciferase reporters that were generated by fusing the luxAB genes to promoters controlled by each Rgg protein. Mass spectrometry was used to identify active molecules. Results and Conclusions: We demonstrate that GAS spent culture supernatants contain at least four specific factors that can induce independent transcriptional reporters. Mass-spectrometry analysis is underway to elucidate each active pheromone. Revelation of the mature peptide pheromones will be a first step in designing antagonistic peptides used for future therapeutics designed to interfere with intercellular signaling in GAS and in other Rgg-containing microbes.
Congenital Subcutaneous Mixed Venous-Lymphatic Orofacial Malformation Associated with Macroglossia: Prenatal Diagnosis with Ultrasound and Fetal MRI

Subcutaneous mixed venous-lymphatic malformations may be proliferative tumors or nonproliferative heterogeneous congenital malformations involving the capillary, lymphatic, venous, or arterial system or be seen as mixed lesions. These lesions may appear as partly solid and cystic (macro- or microcystic) and the prenatal diagnosis relies upon ultrasound and fetal MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) [1]. Macroglossia can be seen as isolated finding or associated to genetic syndromes, commonly in Beckwith-Wiedmann syndrome where macroglossia is detected in 78.6 % of cases [2]. Recently, Poreau et al. [3] have reported a female fetus with macrocephaly and macroglossia harboring 13q31.1 microdeletion encompassing three genes: SPRY2, NDFIP2, and RBM26. NDFIP2 protein is involved in ubiquitination and in Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. While SPRY2 protein inhibits the Ras/MAPK pathways, Ras/MAPK pathway plays important role in complex cellular programs including cell differentiation and proliferation.
Classification and Representation of Thoughts

Communication in the fields of science and technology have been increasing at a rapid rate. Thoughts of a spontaneous and creative nature get recorded, transmitted, referenced and used at a faster pace than at any time in the past due to impact of information technology.
Neodymium(III) Complexes Capable of Multi-Electron Redox Chemistry

A family of neodymium complexes featuring a redox-active ligand in three different oxidation states has been synthesized, including the iminoquinone (L0 ) derivative, (dipp iq)2 NdI3 (1-iq), the iminosemiquinone (L1- ) compound, (dipp isq)2 NdI(THF) (1-isq), and the amidophenolate (L2- ) [K(THF)2 ][(dipp ap)2 Nd(THF)2 ] (1-ap) and [K(18-crown-6)][(dipp ap)2 Nd(THF)2 ] (1-ap crown) species. Full spectroscopic and structural characterization of each derivative established the +3 neodymium oxidation state with redox chemistry occurring at the ligand rather than the neodymium center. Oxidation with elemental chalcogens showed the reversible nature of the ligand-mediated reduction process, forming the iminosemiquinone metallocycles, [K(18-crown-6)][(dipp isq)2 Nd(S5 )] (2-isq crown) and [K(18-crown-6)(THF)][(dipp isq)2 Nd(Se5 )] (3-isq crown), which are characterized to contain a 6-membered twist-boat ring.
Cooler Casing Fatigue Analysis: An ASME Approach

Extended surface heat exchangers are widely adopted in centrifugal air compressors to transfer heat from compressed air to cooling water. These heat exchangers are enclosed in a casing which is made either by casting or fabrication. This paper reviews the cast casing fatigue qualification as per ASME Section VIII Division 2 guidelines. Casing is considered as a pressure vessel in industry which needs to be certified by ASME or PED or GB or CRN depending on the location of use. Machine operating parameters were used as inputs for fatigue screening criteria to determine whether the fatigue analysis is required as part of casing design. On failing the screening criteria, a detailed fatigue evaluation was performed. Coupled field analysis were ran in ANSYS and the maximum stress intensity values are used to compare against the material’s fatigue criteria on the pressure boundary and non-pressure boundary regions separately, to qualify the casing.
Bioenergetics and excitotoxicity: The weak excitotoxic hypothesis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses various aspects of excitotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases. Metabolic impairment and excitotoxicity are involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. These two distinct mechanisms may be related by the unique properties of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. At the normal resting potential of a neuron, the NMDA receptor calcium channel is blocked by extracellular magnesium. It is found that the gating is voltage-dependent, and if the neuron becomes depolarized for any reason, the magnesium blockade is lifted, the receptor is activated, and calcium ions can flow through the channel. The ability to maintain the membrane potential is dependent on adequate functioning of membrane ion pumps, particularly Na+/K+ ATPase. These pumps are highly dependent on neuronal production of ATP to maintain their consistent high level of activity. The proposed link between bioenergetics and NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity permits several modifications of the excitotoxic hypothesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The first in vivo evidence supporting the “weak” excitotoxic hypothesis was generated from experiments involving amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA), a nonspecific inhibitor of transaminases. The findings implicate weak excitotoxicity not only in the MPTP model of Parkinsonism but also in the pathogenesis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD).
Locoregional Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Despite the widespread implementation of surveillance programs for populations with chronic liver disease, more than half of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed outside of criteria for curative treatment [1]. Many who receive therapy are subject to new or recurrent disease as a result of an underlying malignant hepatic parenchymal field defect [2]. Management of liver cancer is further complicated by variable hepatic substrate function which, in advanced disease, may pose greater threat to life than HCC [3]. Unlike traditional TNM staging systems, HCC treatment algorithms must factor physiologic reserve, patient performance, and expected disease control rates after transplantation. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification is generally adopted in Western nations as the standard protocol to manage patients with HCC as endorsed by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) [3, 4].
A dangerous science: psychology in Al Qaeda’s words

AbstractTerrorist organizations’ use of psychology in analysing psychological issues in the everyday lives of their members and developing coping strategies has not been sufficiently investigated in the terrorism research. This qualitative study investigates Al Qaeda’s view of psychology, its analysis of psychological issues, and the utilization of coping strategies among terrorists. The study is based on 255 documents from the Bin Laden’s Bookshelf (Office of the Director of National Intelligence. [2015]. Bin Ladin’s Bookshelf. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/index.php/features/bin-laden-s-bookshelf) and Harmony database documents (The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point [CTC]. [2012]. Harmony program. Retrieved from https://ctc.usma.edu/programs-resources/harmony-program). The results indicate that Al Qaeda perceived psychology as a dangerous and important science. Psychological issues identified in this study include three types of suicide, depression, anxiety, security stress, diversity stress...
Convolutional Gravitational Models for Economic Exchanges: Mathematical Extensions for Dynamic Processes and Knowledge Flows

The Gravity Model of trade is a regression model for exchanges between countries. The model comprises a measure of exchange as its dependent variable, a measure of mass for each of the two exchanging parties, and a distance. Typically, the dependent variable represents exports, the measures of mass are the GDPs of two countries, and the distance is geographical distance. The analysis in this paper yields a number of simplifying assumptions, which if relaxed may yield a stronger model. The paper focuses on knowledge flows as measured through citations as a use case of a new convolutional gravitational model, which includes an element of delay in between the production of a good and its acquisition. The convolutional model further extends the concept of a distance between two entities to include a measure of affinity. These extensions clarify some limits of the basic model and conditions when it is appropriate.
Assessment of the Feasibility of automated, real-time clinical decision support in the emergency department using electronic health record data

The use of big data and machine learning within clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) has the potential to transform medicine through better prognosis, diagnosis and automation of tasks. Real-time application of machine learning algorithms, however, is dependent on data being present and entered prior to, or at the point of, CDSS deployment. Our aim was to determine the feasibility of automating CDSSs within electronic health records (EHRs) by investigating the timing, data categorization, and completeness of documentation of their individual components of two common Clinical Decision Rules (CDRs) in the Emergency Department. The CURB-65 severity score and HEART score were randomly selected from a list of the top emergency medicine CDRs. Emergency department (ED) visits with ICD-9 codes applicable to our CDRs were eligible. The charts were reviewed to determine the categorization components of the CDRs as structured and/or unstructured, median times of documentation, portion of charts with all data components documented as structured data, portion of charts with all structured CDR components documented before ED departure. A kappa score was calculated for interrater reliability. The components of the CDRs were mainly documented as structured data for the CURB-65 severity score and HEART score. In the CURB-65 group, 26.8% of charts had all components documented as structured data, and 67.8% in the HEART score. Documentation of some CDR components often occurred late for both CDRs. Only 21 and 11% of patients had all CDR components documented as structured data prior to ED departure for the CURB-65 and HEART score groups, respectively. The interrater reliability for the CURB-65 score review was 0.75 and 0.65 for the HEART score. Our study found that EHRs may be unable to automatically calculate popular CDRs—such as the CURB-65 severity score and HEART score—due to missing components and late data entry.
Balancing Public Accountability and Nonprofit Autonomy: Milestone Contracting in Oklahoma

As government agencies search for ways to work effectively with nonprofit organizations, there is a growing need for strategies that resolve the long-standing tension between the public sector's need for accountability and the nonprofit sector's desire for autonomy. This article considers the way a state agency in Oklahoma worked toward resolving this tension by restructuring its contracting system with nonprofit organizations. Different from both fee-for-service systems that require heavy auditing and simple outcome funding that can distort the complexity of programs, Oklahoma's "milestone contracting" specifies a series of distinct and critical client achievements and confers payment for this set of collaboratively defined results. This approach to public-nonprofit contracting represents a promising way to achieve public accountability while protecting the autonomy nonprofit organizations need to deliver programs that meet local needs.
The oxidation properties of U-16.6 at.% Nb-5.6 at.% Zr and U-21 at.% Nb

The fundamental oxidation characteristics of two U-base alloys, U-16.6 at.% Nb-5.6 at.% Zr and U-21at.% Nb, in the temperature range 500–1000° C in oxygen at 0.05 Torr are described. Both alloys undergo large dimensional changes during oxidation at temperatures above 650° C due to stresses generated in the oxide during oxidation. Oxidation rate curves for both alloys were determined at 100° C intervals between 500 and 1000° C; the activation energy for the process is shown to be small. The morphology of the oxide scale formed on the two alloys is complex and is described in detail. Stresses estimated at 106 psi are shown to develop in oxidizing specimens, and a mechanism for the generation of these stresses is proposed.
Ultrasonic Imaging: Basic Principles

Medical diagnostic imaging with sound waves usually carries the label “ultrasonic” because, as will be shown in the following review, the frequency range useful for diagnostic imaging (1–10 MHz) is well above the hearing range (20-20,000 Hz). The corresponding wavelengths (1.5–0.15 mm) of the imaging waves are much larger than the electromagnetic wavelengths of light or X-rays. In fact, in ultrasonic imaging one must strive to design systems in which the resolution is comparable to the wavelengths of the illuminating radiation; only in the design of optical microscopes does one approach the wavelength limit of resolution in medical-imaging systems using electromagnetic waves. In radar imaging of aircraft and terrain one attempts to approach the wavelength limit of resolution, so there are many similarities between radar and ultrasonic diagnostic techniques.
Why Peer Evaluations in Student Teams Don't Tell Us What We Think They Do.

AbstractThere is increasing use of peer evaluations in academic settings to assess student performance in team activities. Building on Kenny’s social relations model, the authors analyzed peer rati...
Gaussian Error Linear Units (GELUs)

We propose the Gaussian Error Linear Unit (GELU), a high-performing neural network activation function. The GELU activation function is $x\Phi(x)$, where $\Phi(x)$ the standard Gaussian cumulative distribution function. The GELU nonlinearity weights inputs by their value, rather than gates inputs by their sign as in ReLUs ($x\mathbf{1}_{x>0}$). We perform an empirical evaluation of the GELU nonlinearity against the ReLU and ELU activations and find performance improvements across all considered computer vision, natural language processing, and speech tasks.
Christ as Physician

Few people only will know that as early as the second century AD, Christ was called a physician. Not being scriptural, this nomenclature originally reflected the looming rivalry with the pagan Asclepius cult very popular in Hellenistic times. Yet despite its polemic background, that designation grew into an accepted rhetorical trope for Christians since it was regarded as well-suited to illustrate the corporeality of salvation. It implied that redemption is as corporeal as is the work of medical practitioners, an aspect crucial for Christian medical missions. This article first provides a sketch of the early occurrences of the Christus medicus trope documenting only some of the crucial texts (I). In a second part, the article addresses the imitatio Christi motif, that is, the call to imitate Christ, because imitatio Christi became somewhat typical for arguing the cause of medical missions in their nascent stage. This had to do with breath-taking developments in medicine beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century, which suddenly empowered physicians effectively to heal diseases plaguing people from time immemorial. Pious doctors, thus, felt urged to imitate Christ by going out on missions to share the Good News and to heal (II). Concluding remarks plead for reckoning the unique vocation and ministry of medical missions within and for the Church, namely to hold fast to the corporeality of salvation.
Bioprinting of freestanding vascular grafts and the regulatory considerations for additively manufactured vascular prostheses

Vasculature is the network of blood vessels of an organ or body part that allow for the exchange of nutrients and waste to and from every cell, thus establishing a circulatory equilibrium. Vascular health is at risk from a variety of conditions that includes disease and trauma. In some cases, medical therapy can alleviate the impacts of the condition. Intervention is needed in other instances to restore the health of abnormal vasculature. The main approaches to treat vascular conditions are endovascular procedures and open vascular reconstruction that often requires a graft to accomplish. However, current vascular prostheses have limitations that include size mismatch with the native vessel, risk of immunogenicity from allografts and xenografts, and unavailability of autografts. In this review, we discuss efforts in bioprinting, an emerging method for vascular reconstruction. This includes an overview of 3D printing processes and materials, graft characterization strategies and the regulatory aspects to consider for the commercialization of 3D bioprinted vascular prostheses.
Public knowledge, contaminant concerns, and support for recycled Water in the United States

Abstract Water recycling is one potential solution to meeting the growing global demand for water in an age of dwindling freshwater supplies. However, public opposition has played a key role historically in blunting the broad implementation of water recycling technologies across the United States. Addressing public concerns and overcoming this opposition is critical to the political viability of water recycling programs as a response to growing water insecurity. This analysis builds on existing research on Americans’ attitudes toward water recycling in three ways. First, it explores public understanding of basic elements of water recycling and identifies important gaps in public knowledge. Second, it examines the factors that most concern Americans about water recycling. Finally, it investigates how knowledge, specific concerns, and a range of other factors, including Americans’ environmental priorities, local context, partisan leanings, and demographic characteristics, combine to influence attitudes toward recycled water. The results identify several promising targets for future educational outreach efforts to build public support for water recycling projects. Policy-relevant knowledge is the single most important predictor of support for water recycling. Yet, there is a stark knowledge gap between a highly informed few and an unaware majority. Bridging this gap could greatly increase support for water recycling. Concerns about sewage contamination were most corrosive to support for water recycling, making them a prime target for further outreach. Finally, our results suggest that future educational campaigns may seek to decouple water scarcity and climate change in the public mind to avoid exacerbating existing cleavages.
Human Flourishing as an Ethical Guideline for Emerging Neurotechnologies.

In “Dimensions of Ethical Direct-to-Consumer Neurotechnologies,” Kreitmair identifies various ethical dimensions meant to guide which consumer neurotechnologies ought to be available for purchase t...
[Status quo and characteristic analysis among MSM-users of the "Internet Plus-based AIDS Comprehensive Prevention Service System" in Guangzhou].

Objective To analyze the characteristics of the "Interner Plus-based AIDS Comprehensive Prevention Service System" among MSM who frequently using the Internet in Guangzhou. Methods An online survey was conducted among MSM who were recruited through gay-website portals between August and September, 2018 in Guangzhou, to collect information regarding the use of and attitudes on the "Interner Plus-based AIDS Comprehensive Prevention Service System" . Logistic regression was used to explore the association between the use of Internet intervention tools and related behavioral characteristics. Information on the awareness of AIDS, HIV testing, and condomless anal sex behavior were compared between the core or non-core services users. Results A total of 777 Internet-based MSM were recruited as participants including 638 men (82.1%) as core service users. MSM were satisfied in using the the "Interner Plus-based AIDS Comprehensive Prevention Service System" while more than 80.0% of the users felt that the tools were helpful in: increasing the HIV awareness, promoting test uptake, and reducing those related risk behavior. Comparing with those who did not use the tools, the users showed higher rates in practising condomless anal intercourse (1.50-1.86 times), commercial sex with men (11.60-21.21 times), and unprotected vaginal intercourse (13.62-20.67 times), in the last 6 months. Proportions of core service users appeared as: [96.6% vs. 74.8%, aOR (95%CI): 8.80 (4.85-15.97)] on HIV testing, [56.4% vs. 22.3%, aOR (95%CI): 4.54 (2.94-7.02)] on regular HIV testing and [86.2% vs. 80.6%, aOR (95%CI): 1.75 (1.06-2.89)] on awareness of HIV knowledge respectively, which were all significantly higher than the non-core service users. Conclusions The frequent Internet using MSM in Guangzhou claimed to have had high acceptance and satisfaction on the local Internet HIV intervention service tools. The "Internet Plus-based AIDS Comprehensive Prevention Service System" had effectively reached the high-risk subgroups of MSM, increasing the awareness on related risk and promoting testing on HIV. Key words: HIV; Men who have sex with men; Intervention service; Internet
High Quality Factor Toroidal Resonances in Dielectric Metasurfaces

Toroidal moment is an electromagnetic excitation that lies outside the familiar picture of electric and magnetic multipoles. It has recently been a topic of intense research in the fields of nanoph...
Increased body mass index is associated with decreased imaging quality of point‐of‐care abdominal aortic ultrasonography

BACKGROUND Given that abdominal aorta is a retroperitoneal structure, increased body mass index (BMI) may have an adverse effect upon the quality of aortic ultrasonographic imaging. PURPOSE To assess the hypothesis that increased BMI is associated with worsening point-of-care abdominal aortic ultrasonographic image quality. METHODS This is a retrospective single-center study of point-of-care abdominal aortic ultrasound examinations performed in an academic emergency department (ED) with fellowship-trained emergency ultrasonography faculty performing quality assurance review. RESULTS Mean ± SD BMI was 27.4 ± 6.2, among the 221 included records. The overall quality rating decreased as BMI increased (correlation coefficient - 0.24; P < .001) and this persisted after adjustment for age and sex (P < .001). Although BMI was higher on average in the records that were of insufficient quality for clinical decisions when compared with those of sufficient quality (mean BMI 28.7 vs 27.0), this did not reach statistical significance in a univariable setting (P = .11) or after adjusting for age and sex (P = .14). CONCLUSION This study data shows a decrease in point-of-care abdominal aorta ultrasound imaging quality as BMI increases, though this difference did not result in a statistically significant impairment in achieving the minimum quality for clinical decisions. This finding may help ameliorate some clinician concerns about ultrasonography for patients with high BMI.
What interpretations can we make from scores on graphic-prompt writing (GPW) tasks? An argument-based approach to test validation

Abstract This argument-based validation research examines the validity of score interpretations on computer-based graphic-prompt writing (GPW) tasks, centering on the explanation inference. The GPW tasks, designed for English placement testing, measure examinees’ ability to incorporate visual graphic information into their writing. Over 100 ESL students, studying at a public university in the United States, completed GPW tasks and two online questionnaires on graph familiarity (Xi, 2005) and computer mode preference ( Lee, 2004 ) and submitted their standardized English writing test scores. A Pearson product-moment correlation, corrected for attenuation, revealed scores on the GPW tasks and the standardized writing tests had a moderately strong positive relationship (rT1T2 = .50). Multiple linear regression and follow-up correlation analyses showed that GPW task scores were attributed to examinees’ academic writing ability and carried weak, but significant, positive relations to three predictors of graph familiarity (examinees’ experience with and preference for graphs, and graph reading ability). The findings suggest the GPW tasks and the standardized English writing tests assessed different dimensions of the same underlying construct (academic writing ability), and the three predictors of graph familiarity served as sources of construct-irrelevant variance. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as methodological limitations, are discussed.
Coping Trajectories and the Health-Related Quality of Life of Childhood Cancer Survivors.

OBJECTIVE To identify coping trajectories from diagnosis through survivorship and test whether particular trajectories exhibit better health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at 5 years post-diagnosis. METHODS Families of children with cancer (ages 5-17; M = 10.48, SD = 4.03) were recruited following a new diagnosis of cancer (N = 248). Three follow-up assessments occurred at 1-year (N = 185), 3-years (N = 101), and 5-years (N = 110). Mothers reported on children's coping using the Responses to Stress Questionnaire for Pediatric Cancer. Survivor HRQOL was measured at 5-year follow-up using self-report on the PedsQL 4.0. Longitudinal patterns of coping were derived using Latent Class Growth Analysis and mean-levels of survivor-report HRQOL were compared across classes. RESULTS Two primary control coping trajectories emerged, "Moderate and Stable" (50%) and "Low-moderate and Decreasing" (50%), with no significant differences in HRQOL across trajectories. Three secondary control coping trajectories emerged, "Moderate-high and Increasing" (54%), "Moderate and Stable" (40%), and "High and Increasing" (6%), with survivors in the last trajectory showing better HRQOL. Two disengagement coping trajectories emerged, "Low and Stable" (85%) and "Low and Variable" (15%), with no significant differences in HRQOL across trajectories. CONCLUSIONS Coping trajectories were relatively stable from diagnosis to 5 years. A small group of survivors with high and increasing secondary control coping over time, per mother-report, reported better HRQOL. Future research should consider tailoring coping interventions to children with cancer to improve survivors' HRQOL.
Anatomic Approach to Transseptal Puncture for Structural Heart Interventions

The use of transseptal puncture continues to rise given the increase in left atrial cardiac interventions. The authors review an anatomic approach to transseptal puncture incorporating multimodality imaging both pre- and intraprocedurally with stepwise escalation algorithms to ensure safe and efficacious large-bore transseptal puncture.
What Makes a Farmer? The Limited Expansion of Commercial Farming among Bulgarian Smallholders

Post-socialist restoration of property rights brought expectations that small commercial farming would expand, raising smallholder incomes. However, commercial farming remains limited among smallholders in many places. This paper uses interviews with Bulgarian smallholders to analyze the decision-making process related to land use. Land holders differ in their goals for farming and these differences are associated with land use. Some landholders adjust their goals toward more income-generating uses as they experience better-than-expected returns, while others are content with more modest returns. But few seem willing to give up farming altogether. If goals differ, many farmers adjust slowly from a starting point strongly influenced by local history, and few exit farming altogether, more complete development of property rights, markets and contracting systems alone will not result in wider adoption of commercial farming. While commercially, and even growth-oriented smallholders may emerge, significant smallholder land will remain in less productive uses for some time.
The Influence of Oxygen Stoichiometry on High-Tc YBa2Cu3Oy Superconductor Properties

The change of oxygen stoichiometry within YB2Cu3Oy ceramics exists a great influence on electrical properties. This material is p-type, but under some circumstances (in tetragonal phase, below y = 6.5) it can be n-type. In the orthorhombic superconducting phase (y between 6.5 and 6.7) the slope of conductivity versus change of stoichiometry is 1, and above y = 6.7, is 1/4. Frequency measurements of conductivity show grain boundary properties below y = 6.5, and above that value, some behaviour characteristic of superconducting material.
Health, Women's

Women's health comprises more than popular, everyday notions of beauty, sex appeal, fitness, fashion, and dieting as practiced by women. In a biomedical framework women's health is centered first on reproductive organ systems and secondarily on those diseases that affect disproportionately more women than men. Within a biopsychosocial perspective, women's health addresses physical, emotional, and social dimensions of health and well-being. Sociological definitions of women's health address health topics that frame gender as a social institution, including gendered patterns within medicine, medical training, doctor–patient interactions, self-care, prevention, illness behavior, health care utilization, and health-related politics. Keywords: gender; health behavior; health care; medicalization
Relationship Web: Spinning the Web from Trailblazing to Semantic Analytics

Subject and object convey little without a verb and a few prepositions. Reducing this to the subject-predicate-object representation, subject and object convey little without predicate. Entities are lame without the relationships that associate meaning to them. Concepts can be quite ambiguous without context or domain of discourse. Labels and terms become meaningful when we associate them with a conceptual model or an ontology. Semantics is about meaning and understanding, and relationships are at the heart of semantics. And with semantics we can create more powerful search, achieve interoperability among heterogeneous and multimodal content, and develop more powerful analytic and discovery capabilities.
A simple procedure for estimating high-temperature low-cycle fatigue

Fatigue life for high temperature reversed strain cycling estimated in first approximation from static tensile and creep rupture properties
Psychological Response to Disasters: Focus on Adolescents

The effects of disasters may predispose many adolescents to psychological stress, which can interfere with their growth and development and disrupt their intrapsychic homeostasis. This may lead to negative long-term health outcomes and hamper normal development. Many nurses view traumatic events involving children, including adolescents, as the most frequent and stressful critical incidents. There is a need to address psychological emergency preparedness for mass disasters with the development of protocols and practice guidelines. Assessing and managing physical injuries may take priority in emergencies, but incorporating rapid, cost-effective mental health assessments for children and adolescents is essential.
Formalism and Realism in Ruins (Mapping the Logic of Collapse)

After laying out a conventional account of the formalism vs. realism debates, this Article argues that formalism and realism are at once impossible and entrenched. To say they are impossible is to say that they are not as represented - that they cannot deliver their promised goods. To say that they are entrenched is to say that these forms of thought are sedimented as thought and practice throughout law’s empire. We live thus amidst the ruins of formalism and realism. The disputes between these two great determinations of American law continue today, but usually in more localized or circumscribed forms. We see versions of the disputes, for instance, in the stylized disagreements over the desired form of judicial doctrines (rules vs. standards); or the best rendition of key political values like equality (formal vs. substantive); or the proper mode of judicial interpretation (textual vs. purposive). Here too the arguments that comprise the localized variants of the dispute remain inconclusive. The Article concludes by mapping “the logics of collapse” - specifically, some critical moves that undermine the rhetorical and intellectual force of the formalism vs. realism disputes and their localized variants. The aims here are several. First, the ability to deploy the critical moves helps with analysis. The critical moves help show how the arguments are constructed in the first place and how they are rhetorically and intellectually compromised. Second, and relatedly, the critical moves allow us to avoid being taken in by the formalism vs. realism arguments and their localized variants. Third, the aim is to show how our formalist and realist argumentation has already been surpassed by a legal “logic” that undermines the cogency of that argumentation.
Limits to Plasticity in Gray Wolf, Canis lupus , Pack Structure: Conservation Implications for Recovering Populations

We documented the dynamics of the Five Corners Pack (FCP) in east-central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin through the loss and replacement of four alpha-females over a four-year period. This pack remained intact and produced offspring during the period despite the annual loss of the alpha female. However, we observed a disintegration of the pack after four consecutive alpha females died, at least two of which were due to illegal killing by humans. Our observations generally support the hypothesis that “single-parent” wolf packs may be more prevalent in areas with low densities of wolves and high densities of ungulate prey. Our observations also highlight the need to assess the potential negative impacts of wolf removal on pack structure and persistence at local and regional scales.
Benefits and risks of red blood cell transfusion in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery

As the number of neonates and young infants undergoing cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) increases, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion will continue to be an integral part of the practice of pediatric cardiac anesthesiology. The decision of when to transfuse RBCs to these patients is complex and influenced by multiple factors such as size, presence of cyanotic heart disease, complexity of the surgical procedure, and the hemostatic alterations induced by CPB. The known benefits of RBC transfusion include an increase in the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, improved tissue oxygenation, and improved hemostasis. Unfortunately, there is no minimum hemoglobin level that serves as a transfusion trigger for all pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Physiologic signs such as tachycardia, hypotension, low mixed venous oxygen saturation and increased oxygen extraction ratios can provide objective evidence of the need to augment a given hemoglobin level. Nevertheless, the benefits of RBC transfusion must be balanced against its risks and, in recent years, RBC transfusion has been subjected to intense scrutiny. The adverse consequences of RBC transfusion include the transmission of infectious diseases and immune-mediated and nonimmune-mediated complications. Advances in donor selection, infectious disease testing of donated blood, use of leukocyte reduction and irradiation of blood in defined situations have improved the safety of the blood supply in terms of infection transmission. However, a growing number of prospective randomized clinical trials are finding an association between RBC transfusion and an increased risk of morbidity and mortality even with the use of leuko-reduced blood. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important that the decision to transfuse RBCs be made with a thorough understanding of the benefit-to-risk ratio. This review addresses the benefits and risks of RBC transfusion, pertinent data acquired in the setting of congenital cardiac surgery and techniques designed to minimize the need for RBC transfusion.
Initial clinical experience with heart transplantation.

Abstract Clinical experience with cardiac transplantation in 2 patients with terminal heart disease is described. The first patient suffered chronic and progressive heart failure due to postviral myocardial fibrosis and coronary artery disease. Following successful operation multiple complications occurred, and the patient died on the fifteenth postoperative day of gastrointestinal bleeding and gram negative sepsis. Histologic evidence of mild rejection was present at postmortem examination. The second patient presented with terminal ischemic heart disease complicated by severe pulmonary hypertension. Postoperatively severe and unremitting arterial hypoxemia caused death on the third postoperative day. Postmortem examination failed to show evidence of rejection but revealed advanced obliterative changes in the pulmonary vasculature. Despite the disappointing outcome of these 2 cases, cardiac transplantation in man deserves extensive clinical trial. The methods of clinical study and eventual objectives are outlined.
Steady and Dynamic Shear Rheological Properties of Starch and Decolorized Hsian-tsao Leaf Gum Composite Systems

ABSTRACT Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) and dynamic rheological measurements were performed on a mixture of decolorized hsian-tsao leaf gum (dHG) and starch as a function of starch-to-gum ratio (S/G 0:6, 1:5, 2:4, 3:3, 4:2, 5:1, and 6:0), starch type (wheat, corn, and tapioca), and total solid content (2, 3, and 4%). Under S/G of 5:1, 4:2 and 3:3, dHG interacted with starch synergistically, which resulted in a marked increase in viscosity during cooling. The storage modulus of the resulting mixed gel was higher than the loss modulus, and both moduli were almost frequency-independent throughout the frequency range tested, indicating that the composite gels could be classified rheologically as elastic gels. Mixed systems with tapioca starch showed higher pseudo-gel viscosity in the RVA test, but lower storage modulus in the dynamic test than those with wheat or corn starch. Such results implied that tapioca starch contributed a more viscous property but wheat and corn starch contributed a more elastic property ...
Stimulus consequences of postreward confinement

Three groups of 12 rats were trained in a straight alley runway. Group R received regular 100 per cent reward. Group R-C received postreward confinement (PRC). Group S was shifted from continuous reward to PRC. Then all Ss received extinction trials. Generalization decrement occurred in Group S following the shift to PRC. Group R extinguished more rapidly than the other two groups which did not differ.
Relations among Functional Systems in Behavior Analysis.

This paper proposes that an organism's integrated repertoire of operant behavior has the status of a biological system, similar to other biological systems, like the nervous, cardiovascular, or immune systems. Evidence from a number of sources indicates that the distinctions between biological and behavioral events is often misleading, engendering counterproductive explanatory controversy. A good deal of what is viewed as biological (often thought to be inaccessible or hypothetical) can become publicly measurable variables using currently available and developing technologies. Moreover, such endogenous variables can serve as establishing operations, discriminative stimuli, conjoint mediating events, and maintaining consequences within a functional analysis of behavior and need not lead to reductionistic explanation. I suggest that explanatory misunderstandings often arise from conflating different levels of analysis and that behavior analysis can extend its reach by identifying variables operating within a functional analysis that also serve functions in other biological systems.
A 1,5-Diene synthesis via titanium and aluminum mediated reactions

Abstract (1) 1,5-Dienes are readily prepared by titanium mediated methylenation of allyl esters, Claisen rearragement followed by a second methylene transfer reaction. (2) The same 1,5-diene may be approached in “one pot” combining an allyl acetate and 3 equivalents biscyclopentadienyl-titanium-μ-methylidene-bismethyl aluminum.
Sensitivity enhancement for damage detection in linear systems using optimal feedback auxiliary signals and system augmentation

Recently, a sensitivity enhancement technique for damage detection using eigenstructure assignment has been extended from linear to nonlinear systems. Nonlinearities have been accounted for by forming (higher dimensional) augmented systems, which are designed for each trajectory of the nonlinear system, and are characterized by a specific forcing that ensures that the augmented systems follow that trajectory (when projected onto the original, lower dimensional space). The use of system augmentation for damage detection has several benefits beyond its ability to handle nonlinearities. For example, sensitivity can be increased compared to existing linear techniques through nonlinear feedback auxiliary signals because the constraint that the system is stable during its interrogation has to be applied only to the linearized closed loop system, while the augmented linear system does not have that constraint. In this work, the various benefits of nonlinear feedback auxiliary signals are explored for damage detection in linear systems. System augmentation is used in a linear system because a nonlinear controller is employed to enhance sensitivity. In addition to the increased sensitivity, fewer controller actuator points and sensors are required compared to existing linear techniques due to the efficient use of added (augmented) equations. Numerical simulations for a linear mass-spring and a linear mass-spring-damper system are used to validate the approach and discuss the effects of noise.
Response of Split-Root Sour Orange Seedlings to NaCl and Polyethylene Glycol Stresses

Etude de la reponse de la plante au NaCl et au PEG par l'evaluation de la croissance, de l'activite des stomates, de l'utilisation de l'eau et des phenomenes osmotiques. Comparaison de plantes dont les racines ont ete entierement, a moitie et pas du tout exposees. Recherche d'une eventuelle compensation, par la partie non traitee, du deficit en eau et en nutriments subi par la plante traitee
Picoplankton and the resulting bias in chlorophyll retained by traditional glass-fiber filters

Abstract Bias in chlorophyll measurements due to small photosynthetic organisms passing through 1.2 μm glass-fiber filters was investigated by comparing chlorophyll retained by these filters with that retained by 0.45 μm Millipore filters. At 24°N, the 1.2 μm glass-fiber filter passed an average of 8.9% of the total chlorophyll. At 47°N this bias averaged 4.4%.