cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical Management of Adult-acquired Buried Penis: Impact on Urinary and Sexual Quality of Life Outcomes

Objective To assess postoperative patient-reported quality of life outcomes after surgical management of adult-acquired buried penis (AABP). We hypothesize that surgical treatment of AABP results in improvements in urinary and sexual quality of life. Methods Patients that underwent surgical treatment of AABP were retrospectively identified. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index (EPIC) questionnaire was completed at ≥3 months postoperatively, and completed retrospectively to define preoperative symptoms. EPIC is validated for local treatment of prostate cancer. Urinary and sexual domains were utilized. Questions are scored on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Preoperative scores were compared with postoperative scores. Results Sixteen patients completed pre- and postoperative questionnaires. Mean time from surgery to questionnaire was 12.6 months. There was a significant improvement in 10 of 12 urinary domain questions and 10 of 13 sexual domain questions. Fourteen of 16 patients (87.5%) reported significant improvement in overall sexual function (median score changed from 1.5 to 5, P Conclusion AABP is a challenging condition to treat and often requires surgical intervention to improve hygiene and function. There are limited data on patient-reported quality of life outcomes. We found that surgical management of AABP results in significant improvements in both urinary and sexual quality of life outcomes.
An Advocate’s Well-Child Check

You are seeing a 2 year old child in clinic who presents for their general check-up and vaccines. You find out that he has multiple issues ranging from somatic issues to social issues for which he is presenting today. What do you do first?
Individual Differences in Selfishness as a Major Dimension of Personality: A Reinterpretation of the Sixth Personality Factor:

Research on the structure of personality has identified a sixth major trait that emerges in addition to the Big Five. This factor has been characterized in a number of ways—as integrity, morality, ...
Exact symbolic models for control

The prevalent role that software plays in modern complex engineering systems creates new control problems combining requirements of finite-state and of infinite-state nature. The existence of symbolic models for control systems suggests that we can use these abstractions to synthesize controllers enforcing finite-state requirements while accounting for the infinite-state dynamics. In this chapter, we discuss two classes of control systems admitting finite-state abstractions and how these can be used for control. Although the starting point is an infinite-state control system, the synthesized controllers are hybrid since they enforce finite-state and infinite-state requirements.
Closing Remarks for Symposium on Justice Brennan and the Living Constitution

Burt Neuborne is the very best of lawyers and law teachers. I appreciate his spirit-lifting introduction, also the Brennan clerks' invitation, conveyed by Geoff Stone, to take part in this symposium. We are gathered here to celebrate the work and spirit of William J. Brennan, Jr., a jurist Barbara Jordan rightly called "the lightning rod for individual rights and individual freedom" in our time. You have had a stimulating morning, with an engaging roster of speakers addressing topics of special concern to Justice Brennan. My remarks, in contrast, will spark no controversy. I simply seek to convey our shared admiration and affection for a Justice who contributed monumentally to the advancement of liberty and justice, equal and accessible, for all. In 1956, when Justice Sherman Minton retired from the U.S. Supreme Court, President Eisenhower nominated then New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Brennan to fill the vacancy. Brennan's Chief Justice on the New Jersey court, Arthur Vanderbilt, gave his junior colleague a ringing endorsement. Vanderbilt wrote of striking things about Bill Brennan"his [genuine] fondness for people," his "industry[,] knowledge and wisdom," his capacity constantly to grow, "his crowning trait[s]" "courage and forthrightness."2 Those traits were evident when Justice Brennan, while still a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court, spoke out against Senator Joseph McCarthy. If we violate individual rights out of fear, Brennan warned, we come "perilously
Mnemonic Function of the Hippocampus: Correspondence between Animals and Humans

The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate that in humans and animals the hippocampus is equivalent in terms of mnemonic function. In both animals and humans it can be shown that disruption of normal hippocampal function results in an impairment of long-term memory (episodic or working memory) for specific events without markedly altering short-term memory or memory for rules (semantic or reference memory). It is suggested that the exact nature of the deficit following hippocampal disruption is an impairment in the encoding of long-term temporal and absolute spatial attributes of specific events. Other attributes (e.g., short-term temporal, emotional) of specific events would be encoded by other neural regions.
Polysialic Acid as a Regulator of Cell-Cell Interactions During Muscle Innervation

The study of cell-cell interactions in tissue formation has spanned several decades, with particularly rapid progress in recent years (for review see Rutishauser and Jessell, 1988). A fundamental hypothesis throughout has been that these interactions reflect specific molecular complementarity mediated by distinct components at the cell surface. In addition, it is generally assumed that the developmental control of interactions occurs through regulation of expression of the molecules directly involved. Thus many studies have interpreted the function of a particular cell interaction molecule on the basis of where and when it is detected in an embryo. That is, the burden of regulating cell-cell interactions is largely given to the control of genes that encode the relevant receptors.
Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature

Most alcohol and drug use occurs among persons who are not violent. However, alcohol and, to a lesser extent, illicit drugs are present in both offenders and victims in many violent events. The links between psychoactive substances and violence involve broad social and economic forces, the settings in which people obtain and consume the substance, and the biological processes that underlie all human behavior. In the case of alcohol, evidence from laboratory and empirical studies support the possibility of a causal role in violent behavior. Similarly, the psychopharmacodynamics of stimulants, such as amphetamines and cocaine, also suggest that these substances could play a contributing role in violent behavior. On the other hand, most real-world studies indicate that this relationship is exceedingly complex and moderated by a host of factors in the individual and the environment. In addition to psychopharmacological effects, substance use may lead to violence through social processes such as drug distribution systems (systemic violence) and violence used to obtain drugs or money for drugs (economic compulsive violence).
Save the Plastic Bags?: How the California Supreme Court Weakened Environmental Impact Report Requirements in an Attempt to Protect the Environment

The California Environmental Quality Act aims to protect the environment by requiring any public agency proposing a project that might have a significant effect on the environment to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This Report would identify and attempt to mitigate environmental damage, as well as make the public aware of the project. In Save the Plastic Bag, the California Supreme Court held that the City of Manhattan Beach did not need to prepare an EIR in passing an ordinance banning plastic bags at point of sale retail stores within the city. The Supreme Court weakened the EIR requirement for future cases by ruling against challengers to the ban. This Comment argues that this lowered standard will allow more questionable projects to avoid the EIR requirement, which will represent lost opportunities to both inform the public about important projects and create new and innovative ways to mitigate future damage.
Parallelize Simulated Annealing Heuristics with GPUs

Local search metaheuristics can be used for solving hard optimization problems in science, engineering, economics and technology. By using Local search metaheuristics, we could obtain satisfactory resolution (approximate optimum) in a reasonable time. However, it is still very CPU time-consuming when solving large problem instances. As graphic process units (GPUs) have been evolved to support general purpose computing, they are taken as a major accelerator in scientific and industrial computing. In this paper, we present an optimized parallel iterated simulated Annealing algorithm efficiently accelerated on GPUs and test the algorithm with a typical case study of the Graph bisection in computational science.
Transfer Learning for a Multimodal Hybrid EEG-fTCD Brain–Computer Interface

Humans can transfer knowledge previously acquired from a specific task to new and unknown ones. Recently, transfer learning (TL) has been extensively used in brain–computer interface (BCI) research to reduce the training/calibration requirements. BCI systems have been designed to provide alternative communication or control access through computers to individuals with limited speech and physical abilities (LSPA). These systems generally require a calibration session in order to train the BCI before each usage. Such a calibration session may be burdensome for the individuals with LSPA. In this article, we introduce a multimodal hybrid BCI based on electroencephalography (EEG) and functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD) and present a TL approach to reduce the calibration requirements. In the hybrid BCI, EEG, and fTCD are used simultaneously to measure the electrical brain activity and cerebral blood velocity, respectively, in response to motor imagery (MI) tasks. Using the data we collected from ten healthy individuals, we perform dimensionality reduction utilizing regularized discriminant analysis (RDA). Using the scores from RDA, we learn class conditional probabilistic distributions for each individual. We use these class conditional distributions to perform TL across different participants. More specifically, in order to reduce the calibration requirements for each individual, we choose the recorded data from other individuals to augment the training data for that specific individual. We choose the data for augmentation based on the probabilistic similarities between the class conditional distributions. For the final classification, we use the RDA scores after TL as features input to three different classifiers: quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and support vector machines (SVMs). Using our experimental data, we show that TL decreases the calibration requirements up to $87.5\%$ . Also by comparing SVM, LDA, and QDA, we observe that the SVM provides the best classification performance.
Comparison of breast-conserving therapy vs mastectomy in women under age 40: National trends and potential survival implications

INTRODUCTION Despite initial increased rates of breast-conserving therapy compared to mastectomy after 1990, mastectomy rates have increased in women under age 40 since 2000. Our study explores the demographic and survival implications of this trend. METHODS The National Cancer Database was used to study stage 1 breast cancer diagnosed in women under age 40 between 2004 and 2014. Demographic and clinical data were obtained. Multivariable regression and survival analyses were performed. RESULTS Of 11 859 patients under age 40, 57.2% underwent mastectomy (39.0% unilateral and 61.0% bilateral) rather than breast-conserving therapy (42.8%). The rate of mastectomy was significantly higher in 2014 compared to 2004 (43.6% in 2004 vs 62.4% in 2014; P < 0.001). The rate of bilateral mastectomy was significantly higher in 2014 compared to 2004 in contrast to unilateral mastectomy (31.7% in 2004 vs 73.0% in 2014; P < 0.001). Non-Hispanic Caucasian ethnicity and private insurance status were predictors of bilateral mastectomy (OR 2.06 [95% CI: 1.84-2.30], P < 0.001; OR 1.39 [95% CI: 1.21-1.59], P < 0.001). Controlling for demographics, tumor grade, and adjuvant therapies, bilateral mastectomy was associated with significantly increased 10-year survival vs unilateral mastectomy (HR 0.75 [0.59-0.96], P = 0.023). Additionally, breast-conserving therapy was associated with significantly increased 10-year survival vs unilateral (HR 2.36 [95% CI: 1.83-3.05]; P < 0.001) and bilateral mastectomy (HR 2.30 [95% CI: 1.61-3.27]; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The majority of women under age 40 with stage 1 invasive breast cancer underwent mastectomy instead of breast-conserving therapy. This largely reflects increased rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Bilateral mastectomy and breast-conserving therapy vs unilateral mastectomy were associated with a small but significant increase in survival. This finding warrants further investigation to determine the clinical implications of decision-making in younger women.
Depressive symptoms and substance use: Changes overtime among a cohort of HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM.

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to examine depressive symptoms overtime and quantify the variance in symptoms attributable to substance use among a cohort of HIV-positive and HIV-negative men. Methods Participants were enrolled in an NIH/NIDA funded cohort, with 534 men resulting in 1,888 visits between August 2014 and June 2018. Participants were between 18 and 45 years, and half were HIV-positive. At baseline and semi-annual visits, information was collected on depressive symptoms, sexual behaviors, and substance use. Changes overtime in symptom scores were evaluated using individual growth curve modeling. Results The average CES-D20 score was 19.5 (SD = 12.7). Depressive symptoms were highest among daily/weekly methamphetamine users (56% vs. 39% occasional users and 27% non-users; p value Conclusions The prevalence of depressive symptoms among this cohort of HIV-negative and HIV-positive MSM was high, especially among frequent methamphetamine users. These findings suggest that reducing methamphetamine use may have the potential to reduce depressive symptoms.
The Association of Sleep Duration and the Use of Electronic Cigarettes, NHANES, 2015-2016.

Introduction. The unknown effects of electronic cigarettes are public health concerns. One potential effect of electronic cigarette fluid constituents, such as nicotine, may influence sleep. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is an association between sleep duration and electronic cigarette use. Methods A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2016. Variables of interest included responses to questions concerning electronic cigarette use, hours of sleep, and other variables associated with sleep. Data analyses were conducted with the Rao-Scott chi square test and logistic regression. Results This study was conducted on 2889 participants, aged 18-65 years, of whom 50.7% were female. Using a bivariate analyses of electronic cigarette usage and sleep duration, participants who never used an electronic cigarette were more likely to have appropriate sleep durations as compared with participants who were currently using electronic cigarettes (P < 0.0001). After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and cigarette smoking, current electronic cigarette use was associated with higher odds of less sleep duration (adjusted odds ratio = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.79; P < 0.0001). After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and cigarette smoking, current electronic cigarette use was associated with higher odds of less sleep duration (adjusted odds ratio = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.79. Conclusions Participants currently using electronic cigarettes are more likely to have less sleep as compared to participants who have never used electronic cigarettes. Implications. With sleep time duration being a major factor for proper body function and repair, this study can serve as confirmation that the use of electronic cigarettes is not a harmless health behavior.
Randomized Prospective Trial of Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff with or without Acromioplasty: No Difference in Patient-Reported Outcomes at Long-Term Follow-up

Purpose To evaluate long-term patient-reported outcomes and revision surgery after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with or without acromioplasty. Methods Between 2007 and 2011, prospectively enrolled patients undergoing arthroscopic repair for full-thickness rotator cuff tears, with any acromial morphology, were randomized into either acromioplasty or nonacromioplasty groups. Patients with revision surgery, subscapularis involvement, advanced neurologic conditions, or death were excluded. Baseline and long-term follow-up questionnaires, including the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Simple Shoulder Test (SST), University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, and Constant scores were obtained. Rates of symptomatic retear, revision rotator cuff surgery, or secondary reoperation were recorded. Averages with standard deviation were calculated, and t-tests were used to compare outcomes of interest between cohorts. Results In total, 69 of 90 patients (76.7%) were available at 92.4 months (± 10.5). There were 23 of 32 patients in the acromioplasty cohort and 24 of 37 patients in the nonacromioplasty cohort. Mean age for the nonacromioplasty cohort was 56.9 (± 7.6) years, whereas acromioplasty was 59.6 (± 6.8) years. Comparison of baseline demographics and intraoperative information revealed no significant differences, including age, sex, Workers’ Compensation, acute mechanism of injury, tear size, degree of retraction, and surgical technique (e.g., single- vs. double-row). At final follow-up, there were no statistically significant differences according to ASES (P = .33), VAS pain (P = 0.79), Constant (P = .17), SST (P = .05), UCLA (P = .19), and Short Form-12 (SF-12) (P = .79) in patients with and without acromioplasty. Two patients with acromioplasty (5.6%) and 3 patients without acromioplasty (9.1%) sustained atraumatic recurrent rotator cuff tear with secondary repair (P = .99), and there was no significant difference in retear rates or patient-reported outcome measures by acromial morphology. Conclusions This randomized trial, with mean 7.5-year follow-up, found no difference in validated patient-reported outcomes, retear rate, or revision surgery rate between patients undergoing rotator cuff repair with or without acromioplasty. Level of Evidence II, prospective randomized controlled trial.
How does workplace bullying influence nurses' abilities to provide patient care? A nurse perspective.

Aims and objectives To explore how workplace bullying influences nurses' abilities to provide patient care. Background Nurses' experiences of workplace bullying undermines nursing work environments and potentially threatens patient care. Although there is a link between nurses' experiences of workplace bullying and poor patient care, additional exploration is necessary as current evidence remains underdeveloped and inconclusive. Design Qualitative descriptive study. Methods Fifteen inpatient staff nurses who have experienced workplace bullying while working in one hospital located in the southern region of the United States participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts in NVivo 12 software. The COREQ checklist for qualitative studies has been used in reporting this study. Results Three themes, and respective subthemes, were generated from data analysis: 1) workplace bullying as part of the nursing work environment, 2) workplace bullying's influence on nurses, and 3) workplace bullying's influence on patient care. Workplace bullying was perceived to be inherent in the nursing work environment; nurses felt that they were targets of workplace bullying because 1) they were new nurses, 2) there was an abuse of power, or 3) the nature of the work occasioned it. Nurses were mentally and emotionally influenced by the bullying. Some nurses perceived that workplace bullying did influence their ability to provide patient care; however, others did not. Conclusions Organizations must support new nurses and manage relational attributes of the nursing work environment to reduce workplace bullying. Nursing leaders should receive education on fostering and sustaining favorable nursing work environments and be held accountable for behavioral expectations of the organization. Relevance to clinical practice Understanding how nurses perceive the work environment to influence their experiences of workplace bullying informs the development of organizational interventions to reduce the behavior. Furthermore, exploring how nurses' experiences of workplace bullying influences their abilities to provide patient care increases our understanding of workplace bullying implications.
Multi-Objective Laser Rate Equation Based Parameter Extraction Using VCSEL Small Signal Response and RIN Spectra

Rate equation parameters used to simulate semiconductor lasers must be carefully chosen in order to accurately model high-speed laser characteristics in optical link simulations. Previous parameter extraction methods have largely characterized these lasers through their small signal frequency response. We show that capturing both the small signal frequency response and relative intensity noise (RIN) spectrum of the laser is crucial for accurate parameter extraction. We present a multi-objective parameter extraction method alongside a stochastic rate equation model to account for a vertical cavity surface emitting laser's (VCSEL's) bandwidth and RIN characteristics. A genetic algorithm extracts VCSEL parameters from a set of experimentally measured small signal responses and RIN spectra at multiple drive currents. Through Pareto sorting we can extract a single set of parameters which accurately captures the laser's BW and RIN characteristics.
Abstract A16: Characterization of ErbB family expression in intratibial bladder cancer xenografts: Considerations for preclinical modeling

Background: Approximately 40% of patients with distant metastatic bladder cancer are diagnosed with bone metastases and a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. The bone has long been thought to act as “soil” for metastatic cells to “seed,” likely due to the favorable, albeit complex microenvironment that comprises various cell types and growth factors. A study by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) profiling 405 muscle-invasive bladder cancers reported alterations of the receptor tyrosine kinase pathway in 20% of these patients. This included amplification of EGFR in 9% of cases, mutation or amplification of ERBB2 in 9% of cases, and mutation of ERBB3 in 6% of cases. The purpose of this study was to correlate the expression of ErbB family members in human bladder cancer cell lines with their ability to grow as intratibial xenografts in immune-compromised mice. Methods: We performed intratibial injections with six established human bladder cancer cell lines in 22 NSG mice and we allowed these xenografts to grow for five weeks. Four cell lines expressed luciferase and were measured for bioluminescent signals at multiple time points. The resulting formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tibiae were processed for immunohistochemistry (IHC) which utilized human specific antibodies to CK8, EGFR, HER2, Ki-67, and uroplakin. Results: The four luciferase-expressing cell lines exhibited increasing bioluminescent signal over the duration of the study (n=14). Five cell lines had positive human anti-Ki-67 staining in the tibia, confirming their growth in the bone after the intratibial injection. All five cell lines maintained expression, and in certain cases overexpression, of EGFR and HER2 in the intratibial xenografts. We observed an 87.5% take rate (n=16) in a subset of bladder cell lines (5 out of 6) and only the UM-UC-12 cell line exhibiting a 0% take rate (n=6). Conclusion: The high take rate of these five cell lines in the tibia exceeded that of previous studies (25-50%), indicating that the take rate is cell line dependent. Characterizing the ErbB expression profile of individual cell lines in the tibia xenograft model is an important consideration before using these xenografts as a preclinical model. Furthermore, ubiquitous expression of ErbB receptors in tibiae xenografts highlights the importance of growth factor signaling in metastatic bladder cancer and the potential for ErbB targeted therapy. Citation Format: Luke J. Broses, Kathleen C. Day, Aaron M. Udager, Mark L. Day. Characterization of ErbB family expression in intratibial bladder cancer xenografts: Considerations for preclinical modeling [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Bladder Cancer: Transforming the Field; 2019 May 18-21; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(15_Suppl):Abstract nr A16.
Structural Signatures (sGES): A Web Tool for Enriching Gene Expression Signatures With Protein Structural Features

SummaryGene Expression Signatures (GES) have become instrumental for describing cellular phenotypes; however, they may have limited reproducibility across datasets. Structural Signatures (sGES) addresses this limitation by integrating protein structural information with GES data to improve signature robustness while reducing feature dimensionality. Here we present sGES, a web server for generating a range of protein features derived from transcriptomics data. sGES can describe biological phenomena ranging from tissue specific steady states to disease and drug perturbations. sGES also provides access to searchable signatures derived from GTEx, ARCHS4, and lung cancer single cell RNA sequencing data. The sGES server tool is freely available at structuralserver.kinametrix.com.
The extrachromosomal circular DNAs of the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae contain a wide variety of LTR retrotransposons, genes, and effectors

One of the ways genomes respond to stress is by shedding extrachromosomal circular DNAs (eccDNAs). EccDNAs can contain genes and dramatically increase their copy number. They can also reinsert into the genome, generating structural variation. They have been shown to provide a source of phenotypic and genotypic plasticity in several species. However, whole-circularome studies have so far been limited to a few model organisms. Fungal plant pathogens are a serious threat to global food security in part because of their rapid adaptation to disease prevention strategies. Understanding the mechanisms fungal pathogens use to escape disease control is paramount to curbing their threat. We present a whole circularome sequencing study of the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. We find that M. oryzae has a highly diverse circularome containing many genes and showing evidence of large LTR retrotransposon activity. We find that genes enriched on eccDNAs in M. oryzae occur in genomic regions prone to presence-absence variation and that disease associated genes are frequently on eccDNAs. Finally, we find that a subset of genes is never present on eccDNAs, which indicates that the presence of these genes on eccDNAs is selected against.
LISREL and Its Progeny

Sewall Wright’s path coefficients were conceived as dimensionless binary indicators of whether a genetic trait was passed to an offspring, or not. Correlations in Wright’s context were almost overkill, though their magnitude might have been considered to suggest varying degrees of confidence in heritability of a trait. As path analysis began to find application in analyzing relationships that were multivalued or continuous, limitations in the ability to resolve effects began to reveal themselves. It was in this context that Tukey (1954) advocated systematic replacement in path analysis of the dimensionless path coefficients by the corresponding concrete path regressions. Geneticists Turner and Stevens (1959) published their seminal paper presenting the mathematics of path regression and inviting extensions that would apply other developments in statistics. In the early days of data processing, both Herman Wold and his student Karl Joreskog developed software, building on Turner and Stevens’ mathematics, that took advantage of computer-intensive techniques becoming available to universities in the 1970s and 1980s.
Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence: Dynamics, Social Context, and Counseling Implications

ABSTRACT This article presents a review of literature describing intimate partner violence (IPV) in same-sex relationships. The authors present definitions and the prevalence of the main forms of violence-physical, sexual, and emotional-that can occur within same-sex intimate partner relationships, an overview of the existing research that examines the dynamics and broader social context of same-sex IPV, and implications for counseling affected individuals.
Cyberclinics: Law Schools, Technology and Justice

The civil justice system is failing the poor, and law schools are failing their students. Despite these shortcomings, there are only a handful of law school courses and clinical opportunities where law students can learn the skills needed to thrive in today’s technology-driven law practice — a practice that needs to grow resources to help low-income people face the legal system.This chapter proposes that every law school should offer its students an option to take an Apps 4 Justice Clinic. Such a clinical course can deliver essential education for students entering a technology rich law practice and simultaneously improve our legal services delivery system for the poor.
The Richer, The Better? Effects of Modality on Intercultural Virtual Collaboration

We conducted two experiments to learn how different communication modalities and modality combinations affected intercultural virtual collaboration. Study 1, a within-subjects experiment, compares the effects of text chat and audio chat on perceived communication difficulties, perceived language difference, task satisfaction, and performance. Study 2, a within-subjects experiment, explores the effects of modality combinations of text and audio chats with and without pictures and the linguistic accommodation strategies adopted by intercultural dyad members. The major findings are that (a) audio led to better collaboration outcomes than text when there was only one communication modality, (b) multimodality did not lead to better collaboration outcomes than single modality, and (c) visual cues boosted the influence of text chat but impeded the effect of audio chat.
Densification, Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Ultrafine SiC Particle-Dispersed ZrB 2 Matrix Composites

The densification behavior along with the microstructure evolution and some mechanical properties of four ultrafine SiC particle-dispersed ZrB2 matrix composites were studied. The SiC–ZrB2 composites, with a SiC content of 5, 10, 15 and 20 vol%, were densified to near full density by vacuum hot pressing at 1,900°C under a maximum uniaxial pressure of 45 MPa. The presence of SiC greatly improved the sinterability of ZrB2. Grain growth of the diboride matrix was increasingly inhibited for larger amounts of SiC added. Elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, microhardness, flexural strength and fracture toughness were measured at room temperature. Unexpectedly, no obvious effect of the increasing amount of SiC on flexural strength and fracture toughness was found. The former property ranged from 650 to 715 MPa but was actually affected by the exaggerated size of several tenths of micrometers of sintered SiC clusters which acted as dominant critical defects. Also fracture toughness did not receive a marked contribution from the increase of the SiC content. As for the matrix, the prevailing fracture mode of the composites was intragranular, regardless of the SiC content.
A Split Sphere 60,000 Ton Press

An interesting type of multi-anvil device is the split sphere which appears to have originated with Von Platen [1] and was further developed by Kawai [2,3]. It consists of geometrically equal tapered anvils (usually 6 or 8) which form a sphere with a sample cavity at the center. A compressible gasket material is placed between the tapered faces so that the anvils can move inward under an external load. The gasket material also electrically insulates the anvils from each other, thus providing a number of independent electrical leads.
Extrinsic controls on the evolution of Hawaiian ocean island volcanoes

[1] Extrinsic parameters that affect the evolution of magmatic systems within and beneath ocean island volcanoes include physical variables such as confining pressure, which controls magma degassing, and temperature of the underlying lithosphere and crust, which controls magma crystallization during ascent. Other extrinsic parameters are environmental variables coupled to the hydrosphere and atmosphere such as hydrothermal circulation systems and even rainfall. All these extrinsic factors interact with intrinsic parameters, such as magma supply rates or composition, to modulate the evolution of magma chambers and the petrologic processes that take place within them.
Prediction of Organ Toxicity Endpoints by QSAR Modeling Based on Precise Chemical‐Histopathology Annotations

The ability to accurately predict the toxicity of drug candidates from their chemical structure is critical for guiding experimental drug discovery toward safer medicines. Under the guidance of the MetaTox consortium (Thomson Reuters, CA, USA), which comprised toxicologists from the pharmaceutical industry and government agencies, we created a comprehensive ontology of toxic pathologies for 19 organs, classifying pathology terms by pathology type and functional organ substructure. By manual annotation of full-text research articles, the ontology was populated with chemical compounds causing specific histopathologies. Annotated compound-toxicity associations defined histologically from rat and mouse experiments were used to build quantitative structure-activity relationship models predicting subcategories of liver and kidney toxicity: liver necrosis, liver relative weight gain, liver lipid accumulation, nephron injury, kidney relative weight gain, and kidney necrosis. All models were validated using two independent test sets and demonstrated overall good performance: initial validation showed 0.80-0.96 sensitivity (correctly predicted toxic compounds) and 0.85-1.00 specificity (correctly predicted non-toxic compounds). Later validation against a test set of compounds newly added to the database in the 2 years following initial model generation showed 75-87% sensitivity and 60-78% specificity. General hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity models were less accurate, as expected for more complex endpoints.
Diverse Visual Features Encoded in Mouse Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

The thalamus is crucial in determining the sensory information conveyed to cortex. In the visual system, the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is generally thought to encode simple center-surround receptive fields, which are combined into more sophisticated features in cortex, such as orientation and direction selectivity. However, recent evidence suggests that a more diverse set of retinal ganglion cells projects to the LGN. We therefore used multisite extracellular recordings to define the repertoire of visual features represented in the LGN of mouse, an emerging model for visual processing. In addition to center-surround cells, we discovered a substantial population with more selective coding properties, including direction and orientation selectivity, as well as neurons that signal absence of contrast in a visual scene. The direction and orientation selective neurons were enriched in regions that match the termination zones of direction selective ganglion cells from the retina, suggesting a source for their tuning. Together, these data demonstrate that the mouse LGN contains a far more elaborate representation of the visual scene than current models posit. These findings should therefore have a significant impact on our understanding of the computations performed in mouse visual cortex.
Valacyclovir in the Treatment of Herpes Simplex, Herpes Zoster, and Other Viral Infections

Background: Genital herpes and herpes labialis are prevalent, physically and pychologically painful, and often disabling. Herpes zoster is often very painful and may result in months or years of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Over the past two decades, the treatment of these conditions has been transformed by guanosine nucleoside antivirals such as valacyclovir (Valtrex®), a highly bioavailable prodrug of acyclovir (Zovirax®), and famciclovir (Famvir®), a highly bioavailable prodrug of penciclovir (Denavir®). Objective: We describe the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and clinical efficacy of valacyclovir for the treatment of herpes simplex, herpes zoster, and other viral infections. Valacyclovir is also compared with acyclovir and famciclovir. Methods: All published literature containing the word “valacyclovir” was reviewed and summarized. Results: Valacyclovir is the only oral antiviral agent approved for therapy of herpes labialis, the only antiviral drug approved for a 3-day course in the episodic treatment of recurrent genital herpes, as well as the only antiviral drug approved for once daily dosing for suppressive therapy. In herpes zoster, valacyclovir is more effective than acyclovir and equally effective as famciclovir at hastening the healing of zoster-associated pain and PHN. Conclusion: Valacyclovir is safe and effective in the therapy of patients with herpes simplex and herpes zoster and may be useful in other viral infections.
On the shape of a curve

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the shape of a curve. In particular, the general polynomials are open and dense in the set of all polynomials and their complement is of measure zero. Thus, the special polynomials in their complement are always limits of the generic ones so that even their properties can often be best understood as the limiting property of the generic ones. At this stage, the pure temptation is of course to proceed further and ask the corresponding question for polynomials in more variables and the moment one succumbs to it, one is introduced into the heart not only of topology and algebraic geometry but also of much of modern mathematics.
A Revised Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Optimizes Prediction of Mortality Among Patients Awaiting Liver Transplantation

Background & Aims The Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) was originally developed based on data from patients who underwent the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure. An updated MELD based on data from patients awaiting liver transplantation should improve mortality prediction and allocation efficiency. Methods Wait-list data from adult primary liver transplantation candidates from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network were divided into a model derivation set (2005–2006; n=14,214) and validation set (2007–2008; n=13,945). Cox regression analysis was used to derive and validate an optimized model that updated coefficients and upper and lower bounds for MELD components and included serum levels of sodium. Main outcomes measure was ability to predict 90-day mortality of patients on the liver transplantation wait list. Results Optimized MELD score updated coefficients and implemented new upper and lower bounds for creatinine (0.8 and 3.0 mg/dL, respectively) and international normalized ratio (1 and 3, respectively). Serum sodium concentrations significantly predicted mortality, even after adjusting for the updated MELD model. The final model, based on updated fit of the 4 variables (ie, bilirubin, creatinine, international normalized ratio, and sodium) had a modest yet statistically significant gain in discrimination (concordance: 0.878 vs 0.865; P Conclusions Modification of MELD score to update coefficients, change upper and lower bounds, and incorporate serum sodium levels improved wait-list mortality prediction and should increase efficiency of allocation of donated livers.
All-prism achromatic phase matching for tunable second-harmonic generation.

Achromatic phase matching (APM) involves dispersing the light entering a nonlinear optical crystal so that a wide range of wavelengths is simultaneously phase matched. We constructed an APM apparatus consisting of six prisms, the final dispersion angle of which was optimized to match to second order in wavelength the type I phase-matching angle of β barium borate (BBO). With this apparatus, we doubled tunable fundamental light from 620 to 700 nm in wavelength using a 4-mm-long BBO crystal. An analogous set of six prisms after the BBO crystal, optimized to second order in second-harmonic wavelength, realigned the output second-harmonic beams. Computer simulations predict that adjustment of a single prism can compensate angular misalignment of any or all the prisms before the crystal, and similarly for the prisms after the crystal. We demonstrated such compensation with the experimental device. The simulations also indicate that the phase-matching wavelength band can be shifted and optimized for different crystal lengths.
Integrated safety system for MOCVD laboratory

Abstract Several hazardous gases and liquids are used during the epitaxial growth of compound semiconductor materials by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The purpose of this paper is to profile the hazardous properties of two of these gases, arsine (AsH 3 ) and phosphine (PH 3 ), and summarize Rockwell MRDC's approach to the safe handling, detection, measurement and removal of these materials as they relate to MOCVD process technology.
Discourse structure and word learning

The extant literature on discourse comprehension distinguishes between two types of texts: narrative and expository (Steen, 1999). Narrative discourse tells readers a story by giving them an account of events; the narration informs and/or persuades the readership by using textual elements such as theme, plot, and characters. Expository discourse explains or informs the readership by using concepts and techniques such as definition, sequence, categorization, and cause-effect relations. The present study is based on two experiments. In Experiment 1, we compared the two discourse types to examine if college students would be better at extracting the meanings of novel words from one of the two types of discourse structure than from the other. The findings indicated that participants were significantly better at inferring the meaning of novel words from narrative compared to expository discourse. In Experiment 2, we examined the number of situation models that a reader is required to mentally construct, as a possible characteristic that influences the difficulty of learning new word meaning within narrative discourse. Contrary to intuition, fewer novel words were learned in a single-situation, as opposed to a multi-situation model condition, suggesting that the additional inferencing needed to construct multiple models also promotes word learning. Results are discussed with respect to how the structure of written discourse can facilitate word learning in a reader’s native language. Implications for education and assessment are also discussed.
The Evolution of Career, Vocational, and Transition Assessment Implications for the Summary of Performance

The content and processes of career, vocational, and transition assessment have necessarily changed as transition planning and programming have become more definitive and sophisticated. These assessment processes are intended to contribute meaningful information to the newly required Summary of Performance for transitioning youth with disabilities. In this article, the author explores promising methods for using assessment results to develop and implement transition plans and services. She traces the historical origins of transition assessment and presents two theoretical orientations. The author also discusses the transformative use of assessment for transition, as well as interpretations of legislation and how they can shape assessment services. Finally, she explores the content and processes of transition assessment in relation to common pathways for achieving educational, career, and transition success.
A senior service-learning design project in ecuador

International service-learning projects are an effective educational tool for universities striving to meet the ABET engineering criterion, while also providing transformational experiences to their students and a service to needy populations in the world. This paper discusses the benefits of international service-learning projects for the students and the university. Demand for these projects from students as well as supply of worthy projects in developing countries is also discussed. The ABET engineering criterion are then discussed, with specific attention to the criterion that are harder to address with traditional engineering education. Finally, the year-long process of development and piloting of the first international humanitarian engineering service-learning project within the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Civil Engineering is presented. This pilot project was a collaboration between the Pitt senior design course and a local chapter of Engineers Without Borders. A discussion of related efforts that emerged from this initiative is also presented.
Metabolic risk factors and renal disease

Accumulating evidence supports that components of the metabolic syndrome coexist with both albuminuria and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The article by Tomaszewski et al. indicates that this interrelation exists in young obese men before overt renal or cardiovascular disease and also suggests that early treatment of hypertension is especially compelling to prevent the evolution of renal hyperfiltration to CKD.
Stimulus control over family problem-solving behavior: The family contract game

Six children and their single parents participated in N =1 studies in which the Family Contract Game was the intervention. The children ranged in age from 8 to 15, and presented problems including enuresis and frequent home arguments. Parent-child problem-oriented discussion was videotaped and coded when discussion was unstructured (pretreatment and post-treatment baselines) and when discussion was structured by the game. The results confirmed that the game acted as a controlling stimulus for family discussion behavior each time a family used the game to solve a family problem and write a contingency contract. The first time the families played the game, on-task problem-solving behavior accelerated significantly ( t =11.08, p t =7.95, p t =3.91, p t =7.17, p
Repositioning for a virtual culture

Purpose – The paper aims to provide administrators with a comprehensive view of the necessity for careful strategic planning to deal with the emerging “virtu‐versity.”Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines current trends in e‐learning in the USA and extrapolates its impact to provide strategic guidance for colleges as they consider issues related to organization and governance, physical facilities and virtual environments.Findings – The paper provides a suggested list of areas to consider before and during the transformation that leads to more on‐line courses and programs.Research limitations/implications – The paper is not based on empirical research and is confined primarily to what is occurring in the USA.Practical implications – The paper offers an overview that can help administrators begin and continue planning for the explosion of e‐learning.Originality/value – This paper gives a general and balanced view of the need for strategic positioning in considering how e‐learning may continue to...