cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stress among migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural southeast North Carolina.

ABSTRACT: Context: Although funding to enhance the delivery of health care among migrant farmworkers has primarily focused on urgent care issues within this population, the etiology of mental health risks and perceived stress is poorly understood. Purpose: To identify the type and severity of stress perceived by migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural southeast North Carolina. Methods: During the pre-agricultural season in 2002, 151 migrant and seasonal farmworkers completed the 39-item Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory (MFWSI) in either English or Spanish. Findings: Fifty-one percent (n = 77) of the respondents perceived themselves at a high level of stress (mean score above 80 of “caseness”) that may subsequently put them at greater risk for experiencing psychological difficulties. The stressors highly ranked (mean.2.5 in a maximum of 4, with “extremely stressful” in a 5-point Likert scale 0 to 4) were related to their mobile lifestyle, language barriers, insecure job and legal status, financial restraint, and long working hours. Also, drug and alcohol use in the migrant community was found to be one of the significant sources of stressors. Variables influencing high levels of stress include education, social support, religion, marital status, and age. Despite a relatively high level of perceived stress, the majority of respondents (71.5%) viewed their physical health as either “good” or “excellent.”Conclusions: Findings from the study suggest the availability of social support systems may provide significant insight into developing appropriate health services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families.
Non-repeatable mate choice by male sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna, in a unisexual-bisexual mating complex

Most studies of repeatability examine female mate choice, but male mate choice may have significant evolutionary consequences when males of a sexual species are sexually parasitized by heterospecific gynogenetic females as is the case for sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna. Amazon mollies, Poecilia formosa, are all female gynogens that require sperm from P. latipinna for initiation of embryogenesis, but inheritance is strictly maternal. We examined repeatability and consistency of male mate choice for female sailfin versus Amazon mollies in a series of 4 experiments. We measured male association preference for 1) size-matched female sailfin versus Amazon mollies, 2) smaller female sailfin mollies versus larger Amazon mollies, and 3) larger female sailfin mollies versus smaller Amazon mollies. We also examined 4) actual male mate choice for size-matched sailfin versus Amazon mollies. Male mate preference was not repeatable in any of our studies, and male sailfin mollies were consistent in their mate preference for conspecific females over heterospecific females only when the conspecific female was larger than the Amazon and when males could actually mate with females of both species. In all experiments, males that showed the highest conspecific preference also showed the most consistency in their preference across the 2 days of testing. The lack of repeatability of male mate preference may contribute to the persistence of Amazon mollies. Key words: Amazon molly, gynogenetic, live-bearing fish, Poecilia formosa, species recognition. [Behav Ecol]
Location of the enterotoxin gene from Salmonella typhimurium and characterization of the gene products

The enterotoxin gene (stn) in Salmonella typhimurium (Q1 strain) was confined to an 800 bp ClaI-EcoRI genomic DNA fragment (pCE3) that coded for two polypeptides (25 and 12 kDa) under the control of the T7 RNA polymerase/promoter system. The appearance of the 25 kDa protein corresponded to the enterotoxic activity, as determined by elongation of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, fluid accumulation in rabbit intestinal loops, and altered vascular permeability in rabbit skin. The stn gene products (STN) caused an elevation of intracellular cAMP in CHO cells. These values were at control levels in stn mutants devoid of enterotoxicity, and the 25-kDa protein concurrently disappeared. The biological activity of the heat-labile enterotoxin was blocked by GM1 ganglioside and neutralized by affinity-purified antibodies made against cholera toxin. The 12 kDa protein however was not correlated with an enterotoxic response.
Comments on "A Linear Closed-Form Algorithm for Source Localization From Time-Differences of Arrival"

In a recent letter by Gillette and Silverman, a linear closed-form algorithm (the GS algorithm) for source localization from time-differences of arrival is proposed. It is claimed that ldquoit is so simple that we were surprised that, until very recently, there have been no other solutions similar to ours.rdquo This comment has two objectives. We point out imprecisions of statement, and we give additional references of closely related works, some of them presenting the same results.
Deletion of the Second Immunoglobulin-Like Domain of Nectin-1 Alters Its Intracellular Processing and Localization and Ability To Mediate Entry of Herpes Simplex Virus

Nectin-1 is an immunoglobulin (Ig)-like entry receptor for herpes simplex virus (HSV). Like other nectins, nectin-1 forms dimers and mediates cell adhesion through interactions with other nectins. We constructed a second-domain deletion mutant of nectin-1 (nectin-1-Delta2) to examine the role of the second Ig-like domain in HSV entry. Nectin-1-Delta2 exhibited a severely reduced ability to mediate HSV entry and accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum but retained the ability to interact with its HSV ligand, gD. The failure of nectin-1-Delta2 to mediate HSV entry probably resulted from its failure to be transported to a membrane targeted by HSV for viral entry.
Adenine Quantitation in Yeast Extracts and Fermentation Media and Its Relationship to Protein Expression and Cell Growth in Adenine Auxotrophs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have described a method to reliably measure the free adenine content of yeast extract powders or the adenine concentrations found in chemically-defined and complex fermentation samples. This method relies on the selective precolumn derivatization of adenine with chloroacetaldehyde to form the fluorescent adenine adduct l,N 6 -ethenoadenine. The derivatized adenine can then be resolved from other components found in samples with reverse phase HPLC and selectively monitored with fluorescence. This method was then used to study the adenine nutritional requirements of adenine auxotrophs of recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The adenine content of individual yeast extract powders was examined in relation to the cell mass (dry cell weight, DCW) achieved in culture media formulated with these powders. A general increase in DCW was observed with increasing adenine concentration in the yeast extract. Conversely, we observed that as adenine concentration increased in complex media the expression levels of a heterologous protein decreased. This method also allowed us to examine the adenine/DCW ratio in both steady-state continuous culture and batch culture. In both cases, the total in vivo adenine content as measured by the amount of adenine utilized from the culture media was estimated to be ca. 25-40 mg/g DCW. However, data suggest that this value is in excess of what is strictly required for cell growth and represents the quantity of adenine required to saturate intracellular pools of adenine or adenine metabolites. A minimum requirement for cell growth is at least as low as 12.5 mg of adenine/g of cells.
Analytical processing of XML documents: opportunities and challenges

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) has been a valuable tool for analyzing trends in business information. While the multi-dimensional cube model used by OLAP is ideal for analyzing structured business data, it is not suitable for representing and analyzing complex semi-structured data, such as, XML documents. Need for analyzing XML documents is gaining urgency as XML has become the language of choice for data representation across a wide range of application domains. This paper describes a proposal for analyzing XML documents using the abstract XML tree model. We argue that OLAP's multi-dimensional aggregation operators can not express structurally complex analytical operations on XML documents. Hence, we outline new extensions to XQuery for supporting such complex analytical operations. Finally, we discuss various challenges in implementing XML analysis in a real system.
Real-time seismology and earthquake hazard mitigation

Real-time seismology refers to a practice in which seismic data are collected and analyzed quickly after a significant seismic event, so that the results can be effectively used for postearthquake emergency response and early warning. As the technology of seismic instrumentation, telemetry, computers, and data storage facility advances, the real-time seismology for rapid postearthquake notification is essentially established. Research for early warning is still underway. Two approaches are possible: (a) regional warning and (b) on-site (or site-specific) warning. In (a), the traditional seismological method is used to locate an earthquake, determine the magnitude, and estimate the ground motion at other sites. In (b), the beginning of the ground motion (mainly P wave) observed at a site is used to predict the ensuing ground motion at the same site. An effective approach to on-site warning is discussed in light of earthquake rupture physics.
Automation of precision finishing

Precision finishing processes are heavily dependent upon human skills and their automation is demanded. In general, a robot arm is suitable to automate such finishing processes especially in the case that a target work-piece has a complicated shape. In this research, a precision finishing system with a force-controlled robot is developed and applied to an actual finishing process of aero engines' parts. In order to automate precision finishing, four functions are necessary: compensation of the absolute positioning error of the robot, path planning with CAD models, touch sensing measurement, and an original robot language which integrates those functions. In this paper, a function of automatic measurement by touch sensing is developed, implemented by the original robot language, and evaluated through an experiment.
Actin Assembly and Endocytosis: From Yeast to Mammals

Internalization of receptors, lipids, pathogens, and other cargo at the plasma membrane involves several different pathways and requires coordinated interactions between a variety of protein and lipid molecules. The actin cytoskeleton is an integral part of the cell cortex, and there is growing evidence that F-actin plays a direct role in these endocytic events. Genetic studies in yeast have firmly established a functional connection between actin and endocytosis. Identification of several proteins that may function at the interface between actin and the endocytic machinery has provided further evidence for this association in both yeast and mammalian cells. Several of these proteins are directly involved in regulating actin assembly and could thus harness forces produced during actin polymerization to facilitate specific steps in the endocytic process. Recent microscopy studies in mammalian cells provide powerful evidence that localized recruitment and polymerization of actin occurs at endocytic sites. In this review, we focus on progress made in elucidating the functions of the actin cytoskeleton in endocytosis.
Tephrochronology of the Kamchatka-Kurile and Aleutian arcs: evidence for volcanic episodicity

Abstract Volcanic ash layers in North Pacific deep-sea sediment provide a record of episodic explosive volcanism in the Kamchatka–Kurile and Aleutian arcs over the past five million years. We counted 450 ash layers, determined layer thickness and cumulative ash thickness to quantify the flux of ash with time. We use this record to investigate the eruptive history of these arcs, test the reliability of the marine ash record, and inquire into the regional episodicity of North Pacific explosive volcanic history. Episodes of explosive volcanism occurred at approximately 0.2–0.5, 0.7–0.9, 1.5–1.7, and 2.5–2.65 Ma in the Kamchatka arc and 0.15–0.4, 1.7–1.8, 2.55–2.65, and at 3.0–3.1 Ma in the eastern Aleutian arc. These generally coeval eruptive episodes suggest that the pulses in explosive volcanism in the North Pacific enumerated here and recognized by others are regionally episodic over a wide portion of the Pacific rim and not just a response to local volcanogenic processes.
North American species of Agrostocynips Diaz (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae), parasitoids of Agromyzidae (Diptera): bionomics and taxonomy

The genus Agrostocynips Diaz is redescribed, as well as two species endemic to the Nearctic: Agrostocynips diastrophi (Ashmead) and A. robusta (Ashmead). Previous to this study, only Neotropical species of Agrostocynips were well diagnosed both taxonomically and biologically. Agrostocynips belongs to the Zaeucoila group of genera, which are Neotropical eucoilines that principally parasitize Agromyzidae (Diptera); among these genera, species of Agrostocynips are some of the few representatives that are found in the Nearctic. Detailed host records and biological notes are provided for the Nearctic species.
Virtual WiFi: bring virtualization from wired to wireless

As virtualization trend is moving towards "client virtualization", wireless virtualization remains to be one of the technology gaps that haven't been addressed satisfactorily. Today's approaches are mainly developed for wired network, and are not suitable for virtualizing wireless network interface due to the fundamental differences between wireless and wired LAN devices that we will elaborate in this paper. We propose a wireless LAN virtualization approach named virtual WiFi that addresses the technology gap. With our proposed solution, the full wireless LAN functionalities are supported inside virtual machines; each virtual machine can establish its own connection with self-supplied credentials; and multiple separate wireless LAN connections are supported through one physical wireless LAN network interface. We designed and implemented a prototype for our proposed virtual WiFi approach, and conducted detailed performance study. Our results show that with conventional virtualization overhead mitigation mechanisms, our proposed approach can support fully functional wireless functions inside VM, and achieve close to native performance of Wireless LAN with moderately increased CPU utilization.
Low Concentrations of Free Hydrophobic Amino Acids Disrupt the Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase Core-σ70 Protein-Protein Interaction

Studies of the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase subunit sigma-70 employing limited proteolytic digestion and binding by monoclonal antibodies indicate that conserved region 3 is solvent accessible in the free protein and in the RNA polymerase holoenzyme. Conversely, when sigma-70 binds to core RNA polymerase, proteolytic cleavage of region 3 is dramatically reduced. The former set of results seems to indicate the physical presence of region 3 on or near the surface of the holoenzyme while the latter of these results suggest that region 3 is sequestered in a direct protein-protein contact within the RNA holoenzyme which alters its protease sensitivity. To further investigate these possibilities we inserted an internal histidine-tag within region 3 of sigma(70) (sigma(70)-R3-His6) between amino acids 508 and 509. Confirmation that the internal His-tag insertion does not disrupt normal sigma(70) function was verified by genetic complementation. His-tagged protein was immobilized on nickel-agarose and core RNAP was tethered via the sigma-core interaction. Our results are consistent with the localization of region 3 on or near the surface both of free sigma(70) and of RNA polymerase holoenzyme. Furthermore, we find that the sigma(70)-core interaction is resistant to high ionic conditions but is completely disrupted by the presence of the low-molecular-weight hydrophobic amino acids phenylalanine and leucine free in solution. These results demonstrate the general usefulness of this approach to the disruption of protein-protein interactions and its potential application for protein purification.
The emperor wears no clothes in the field of carcinogen risk assessment: ignored concepts in cancer risk assessment.

The following is a position paper challenging the paradigm that 'carcinogen = mutagen', and that the current rodent bioassay to predict risks to human cancers is relevant and useful. Specifically, we review current observations concerning carcinogenesis that might lead to another approach for assessing the identification of human carcinogenic hazards and the risk assessment that chemicals might pose. We give a brief review of the multistage and multi-mechanism process of cancer in a tissue that involves not only genotoxic but also epigenetic events, and the importance of stem and progenitor cells in the development of cancer. We focus on the often ignored 'epigenetic' effects of carcinogens and the role of cell communication systems in epigenetically altering gene expression that leads to an imbalance of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in a tissue that can contribute to the cancer process. To draw attention to the fact that the current paradigm and policy to test toxic chemicals is often misleading and incorrect, we discuss how oxidative stress, in spite of the DNA damaging data, most probably contributes to cancer at the epigenetic level. Additionally, we briefly review how this mutagenic concept has greatly diverted attention away from doing research on the lower molecular weight, non-genotoxic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and how these low molecular weight PAHs are etiologically more relevant to the disease potential of environmental mixtures such as cigarette smoke.
A Grounded Investigation of Genred Guidelines in Cancer Care Deliberations

Genred documents facilitate collaboration and workplace practices in many ways—particularly in the medical workplace. This article represents a portion of a larger grounded investigation of how medical professionals invoke a wide range of rhetorical strategies when deliberating about complex patient cases during weekly, multidisciplinary deliberations called Tumor Board meetings. Specifically, the author explores the role of one key document in oncological practice, the Standard of Care document. Each Standard of Care document (one for every known cancer) presents a set of national guidelines intended to standardize the treatment of cancer. Tumor Board participants invoke these guidelines as evidence for or against particular future action. In order to better understand how genred, generalizable guidelines like Standard of Care documents afford decision making amid uncertainty, the author conducts a temporal and contextual analysis of the document's use during deliberations as well as a modified Toulminia...
Direct-Write Assembly of Microperiodic Silk Fibroin Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications†

Three–dimensional, microperiodic scaffolds of regenerated silk fibroin have been fabricated for tissue engineering by direct ink writing. The ink, which consisted of silk fibroin solution from the Bombyx mori silkworm, was deposited in a layer-by-layer fashion through a fine nozzle to produce a 3D array of silk fibers of diameter 5 µm. The extruded fibers crystallized when deposited into a methanol-rich reservoir, retaining a pore structure necessary for media transport. The rheological properties of the silk fibroin solutions were investigated and the crystallized silk fibers were characterized for structure and mechanical properties by infrared spectroscopy and nanoindentation, respectively. The scaffolds supported human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) adhesion, and growth. Cells cultured under chondrogenic conditions on these scaffolds supported enhanced chondrogenic differentiation based on increased glucosaminoglycan production compared to standard pellet culture. Our results suggest that 3D silk fibroin scaffolds may find potential application as tissue engineering constructs due to the precise control of their scaffold architecture and their biocompatibility.
Bilateral treatment for alopecia areata.

: A 4-year-old, otherwise healthy white girl was referred for a 15-month history of alopecia areata. Anthralin 0.1% cream was prescribed for the left side of the scalp, while corticosteroids for the right side. After 4 months, only the right side of the scalp showed hair regrowth. Half-side strategy, that is, treating one side and managing the other – divided by the mid sagittal suture – as an internal control for no treatment, placebo or other treatment, has been commonly used in clinical studies for decades. In everyday practice, bilateral treatment is useful to evaluate the responsiveness to two topically delivered interventions and diminishes the time necessary to identify an effective one.
Psychological Adjustment Following Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer: An Examination of the Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Emotional Expressivity

In support of cognitive processing models, emotional expression appears to reduce associations between intrusions and psychological distress. Past research has focused primarily on the role of the expression of negative emotion, or emotion in general, in cognitive processing and adjustment. In the present study, we examined the role of both positive and negative emotional expressivity on relations between intrusions and both distress and avoidance among 93 individuals diagnosed with and treated for cancer. We hypothesized stronger negative associations between intrusive thoughts and both distress and avoidance for those individuals lower in positive or negative expressivity. Results generally supported hypotheses with regard to relations of intrusions and distress in association with positive expressivity. Negative expressivity, however, moderated relations between intrusions and distress, but not intrusions and avoidance. These findings underscore the importance of examining the impact of individual differences in negative, as well as positive, emotional expression on cognitive processing and psychological adjustment.
Experimental Infection of Lone Star Ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.), with Rickettsia parkeri and Exposure of Guinea Pigs to the Agent

The maculatum agent, Rickettsia parkeri (a member of the spotted fever group rickettsiae), was inoculated into a colony of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and followed for two tick generations. In addition, guinea pigs were exposed to the agent by direct injection and by feeding infected ticks on them. Eighty (53%) of 150 nymphal A. americanum that were inoculated with suspensions of R. parkeri were positive by hemolymph test and fluorescent antibody test for rickettsial infection when examined as adults. One-month survival of R. parkeri-infected ticks was similar to that of control (noninfected) ticks. Transstadial and transovarial transmission of R. parkeri in the laboratory was demonstrated in A. americanum. When guinea pigs were exposed to the maculatum agent by either direct injection of Vero cell-grown R. parkeri, injection of homogenates of infected ticks, or by feeding of infected ticks, they developed mild fevers and occasional scrotal reactions. These data indicate that R. parkeri can remain viable in lone star ticks for two generations and suggest that guinea pigs may become infected, displaying mild clinical signs.
The management of immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Abstract The most common cause of thrombocytopenia in childhood is immune. The diagnosis must be carefully considered, as there are no specific diagnostic tests. Most children have an acute disease with spontaneous remission within a few weeks. Although the platelet count may be very low, bleeding symptoms are rarely severe, and most often restricted to the skin and mucous membranes. Most children do not require active treatment, but can be managed with good advice, ongoing support and a 24-h contact point. Children with significant bleeding problems may be treated with oral steroids, reserving intravenous immunoglobulin for emergencies or to cover injuries and surgery. About 20% of children continue with thrombocytopenia beyond 6 months (chronic ITP), but expectant management can continue, treatment is rarely required. Splenectomy is rarely required and should be reserved for the very rare child with serious bleeding persisting beyond 6 or 12 months.
Environmental tracking by females : Sexual lability.

Human females are generally reserved in their sexuality, in keeping with their heavy investment in reproduction. Males tend to be less reserved. Relative to males, however, females demonstrate more variability in sexuality and are more likely to inhibit or express high levels of sexuality. The heightened variability may in part originate with genetic mechanisms that predispose females toward greater variability (the Lyon hypothesis). Menarche, menstrual cycles, menopause, food reactions, responses to living conditions, reactions to cultural factors, and responses to sexual stimuli and potential mates are unique to or are more variable among females than males. There is a correlation between the variation expressed and female reproductive potential—females tend to shift dramatically from sexual inhibition to sexual expression. Females apparently track the quality of the environment and link their sexuality to reproductive opportunities. Successful male reproduction depends less on quality environments and more on the availability of females. In short, females track the environment; males track the females.
Investigation of FBMC in mobile fronthaul networks for 5G wireless with time-frequency modulation adaptation

We compared OFDM and filter-bank multicarrier (FBMC) with time-frequency modulation adaptation in a centralized fiber-wireless integrated mobile fronthaul system supporting 5G. Experimental results demonstrate that FBMC outperforms OFDM with higher throughput and better modulation-adaptation performance.
Brand Management in the Hospitality Industry

Copyright: © 2012 Kwun DJ. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. One of a firm’s essential assets is a well-established brand name that provides competitive advantages, both tangibles and intangibles, on its performance. Effective management of a brand creates an identity for products and services and differentiates them from its core competitors [1]. For that reason, building and managing strong brands have been considered a key driver of success in the hospitality industry. Kotler et al. [2] defined a brand as “a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of those elements intended to identify the goods and services of a seller and differentiate them from competitors” (p. 239). The primary focus of brand management was on identification of components (i.e., identify the source or makers of a product) until leading companies started to differentiate their products and services through a symbolic and elusive meaning system embedded under their brand names. The importance of brand management was further amplified when the greatest number of launching new brands, brand extensions, and product tiers occurred in the 1980s. This trend leads in an era of brand management research [3]. One reason for the explosion of new hotels and restaurants in this period was that the baby boomer generation entered its peak earning years with different lifestyles and increased number of dual income families.
Children and Christian Missions: Historical Aspects and Missiological Challenges

Introducing the topic with a personal story highlighting the complex issues faced when dealing with children and Christian missions, the first section defines who counts as a child reads better and screens the scriptural references to Jesus and children. Sections two and three list what happened in the history of Christianity with regard to minors from earliest times to the present. Section four documents the actual impact Christian missions had on children and their lot, while the fifth looks at structures, strategies, and concepts at work in respective programs. The last part followed by a summarizing conclusion, addresses questions arising for a missiology for all of God’s people when the focus is on children.
Corporate frameworks and technological products focusing alarmistic and monitoring incidators of control and performance

With the economic crisis in which we live, it is becoming urgent to capture the high development of a company. In a professional context, the analysis of organizational performance through dashboards implemented with monitoring frameworks provides gains in knowledge about events, as well as available data about the progress of the performance of employees in the execution of their duties. This paper aims to review the state of the art of business frameworks and technological products, including their insights and applicability, with focus on the above-mentioned subject.
Improving Ballistic Fiber Strength: Insights from Experiment and Simulation

The ability to understand and predict failure mechanisms of ballistic fibers through molecular modeling will aid the development of improved next generation fiber material for soft armor systems. By hybridizing tensile test data performed over a range of strain rates with predictions from molecular simulation, the molecular failure mechanisms of neat and carbon-infused para-aramid polymer fibrils (i.e. Kevlar ®) are elucidated and analyzed. To begin, electronic structure calculations are used to generate intermolecular potential functions for polymer monomers and carbon fragments. The carbon/polymer interactions are found to be stronger than the polymer/polymer interactions, indicating that carbon fragments can enhance the internal binding energy of a polymer fibril. Next, using molecular dynamics simulation, the effects of this enhanced interaction energy on the elastic modulus of polymer fibrils is predicted. The predicted elastic modulus of the neat polymer fibril modulus is order-of-magnitude consistent with that measured for fibers during tensile testing. Within the context of the molecular dynamics simulations, carbon/polymer composite fibrils exhibit higher failure stresses than the neat samples. By systematically varying the carbon concentration within the simulations, an optimal carbon concentration that maximizes fibril strength is identified. The competing mechanisms responsible for this optimization process are identified, and a suggested carbon treatment process is proposed. These insights from models can enable exploitation of mechanisms governing each length scale by guiding design and fabrication of an improved ballistic soft armor.
Left-Sided Varicocele as a Rare Presentation of May-Thurner Syndrome.

Background May–Thurner syndrome (MTS), the clinical sequelae of left iliac vein compression between the right iliac artery and the spine, is an accepted cause of lower extremity edema and venous thromboembolism. It is more prevalent in younger women and typically presents with left lower extremity symptoms. Atypical presentations such as right-sided symptoms, chronic pelvic pain, and even fatal venous rupture have been reported. Here, we describe iliac vein compression presenting as a chronic left-sided testicular varicocele. Methods A 22-year-old man presented with left testicular varicocele, scrotal edema, and pain after failing multiple attempts at surgical repair. MRI revealed left iliac vein compression and marked cross-pelvic collaterals. Venography and intravascular ultrasound confirmed left common iliac vein compression and typical changes of MTS. There was no gonadal vein (GV) reflux. An iliac vein stent (WALLSTENT, Boston Scientific) was placed. Results A good technical result was achieved, with elimination of internal iliac vein reflux and marked reduction in pelvic collateral flow (see image). The patient reported resolution of his symptoms. Conclusions Varicocele is a leading cause of testosterone insufficiency and infertility in young males. In the majority of cases, successful treatment can be achieved by addressing reflux in the internal spermatic vein (ISV) and/or GV by a variety of surgical or endovascular approaches. In unusual cases, the culprit pathology may be reflux in the vein of the vas deferens, which unlike the ISV and GV, drains into the internal iliac vein. In such cases, iliac vein compression usually associated with MTS may result in varicocele. To our knowledge, this is the first report of refractory varicocele secondary to iliac vein compression successfully treated with endovenous stenting.
An Educational Leader’s View of Learning Management Systems

The Learning Management System (LMS) is a technology success story. While many educational technology applications over the years have failed to take hold, the LMS has reached an extraordinary level of adoption at higher education institutions. In 2002, the Campus Computing Project estimated that three-quarters of all colleges and universities in the USA had adopted an LMS, with approximately 20% of all courses being delivered via the LMS (The 2002 campus computing report, Encino, CA, 2002). By 2014, the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) reported that—according to its survey of more than 92,000 higher education faculty and students and nearly 800 institutions—99% of colleges and universities had an LMS in place and that the systems were being used by 85% of faculty and 83% of students (The current ecosystem of learning management systems in higher education: Student, faculty, and IT perspectives, Louisville, CO, 2014).
Ethnodoxy, national exceptionalism, and xenophobia: a case study of contemporary Russia

The purpose of this study is to explore the way religious and ethno-national identities are conflated, and how such orientations are related to national exceptionalism and xenophobia. Using data fr...
IMCS2: Novel Device-to-Architecture Co-Design for Low-Power In-Memory Computing Platform Using Coterminous Spin Switch

Spin switch (SS) is a promising spintronic device which exhibits compactness, low power, non-volatility, input–output isolation leveraging giant spin Hall effect, spin transfer torque, and dipolar coupling. In this paper, we propose a novel device-to-architecture co-design for an in-memory computing platform using coterminous SS (IMCS2), which could simultaneously work as non-volatile memory and reconfigurable in-memory logic (AND/NAND, OR/NOR, and XOR/XNOR) without add-on logic circuits to memory chip. The computed logic output could be simply read out like a normal magnetic random access memory bit cell using the shared memory peripheral circuits. Such intrinsic in-memory logic could be used to process data within memory to greatly reduce power-hungry and long distance data communication in the conventional von Neumann computing system. The IMCS2-based in-memory bulk bitwise Boolean vector operation shows ${\sim }9\times $ energy saving and ${\sim }3\times $ speedup compared with that of DRAM-based in-memory computing platform. We further employ in-memory multiplication to evaluate the performance of the proposed in-memory computing platform for vector–vector multiplication with different vector sizes.
Experiences of primary care physicians and staff following lean workflow redesign.

In response to growing pressures on primary care, leaders have introduced a wide range of workforce and practice innovations, including team redesigns that delegate some physician tasks to nonphysicians. One important question is how such innovations affect care team members, particularly in view of growing dissatisfaction and burnout among healthcare professionals. We examine the work experiences of primary care physicians and staff after implementing Lean-based workflow redesigns. This included co-locating physician and medical assistant dyads, delegating significant responsibilities to nonphysician staff, and mandating greater coordination and communication among all care team members. The redesigns were implemented and scaled in three phases across 46 primary care departments in a large ambulatory care delivery system. We fielded 1164 baseline and 1333 follow-up surveys to physicians and other nonphysician staff (average 73% response rate) to assess workforce engagement (e.g., job satisfaction, motivation), perceptions of the work environment, and job-related burnout. We conducted multivariate regressions to detect changes in experiences after the redesign, adjusting for respondent characteristics and clustering of within-clinic responses. We found that both physicians and nonphysician staff reported higher levels of engagement and teamwork after implementing redesigns. However, they also experienced higher levels of burnout and perceptions of the workplace as stressful. Trends were the same for both occupational groups, but the increased reports of stress were greater among physicians. Additionally, members of all clinics, except for the pilot site that developed the new workflows, reported higher burnout, while perceptions of workplace stress increased in all clinics after the redesign. Our findings partially align with expectations of work redesign as a route to improving physician and staff experiences in delivering care. Although teamwork and engagement increased, the redesigns in our study were not enough to moderate long-standing challenges facing primary care. Yet higher levels of empowerment and engagement, as observed in the pilot clinic, may be particularly effective in facilitating improvements while combating fatigue. To help practices cope with increasing burdens, interventions must directly benefit healthcare professionals without overtaxing an already overstretched workforce.
Rationality evaluation of schedule power flow data for large power grid

The day-ahead schedule is an important part of the power grid operation. The rationality and accuracy of the schedule power flow data is the premise of ensuring the safety and stability check results of the day-ahead schedule. In this paper, first the data flow of the schedule power flow calculation is summarized and the problems existing in the calculation program are analyzed. Then the schedule power flow data is evaluated for both single-moment and multimoment from the following aspects: the consistency of the results and planned value, rationality of topology, rationality of active/reactive power flow, etc. A comprehensive evaluation index system is set up. The actual application example shows that this method has good reality, which can effectively evaluate the rationality of the schedule power flow data.
Morphological Evolution of TiO2 Scale Formed on Various 1D and 2D Geometries of Titanium

The purpose of this study is to experimentally quantify the multidimensional growth characteristics of the oxide scale formed on commercially pure titanium at 700°C in flowing air. The geometries considered herein had characteristic dimensions that were appropriately sized to match the thickness of the oxide scale and were fabricated into shapes of solid and hollow cylinders and external and internal wedges. Scanning-electron microscopy (SEM) image analysis was used to measure the oxide-layer thickness and the Pilling–Bedworth ratio (PBR) as a function of time. An effective diffusion coefficient was determined from one-dimensional planar oxide-thickness data and experimentally obtained PBR values served as the necessary input to a solid-state diffusion model, which was modified to account for the volumetric expansion of the oxide. The model results demonstrate the competing influences of oxide expansion and curvature effects. In addition, the predictive capability of the model, for the case of a solid cylinder, was shown to underpredict experimental results, whereas, scale growth on the inner surface of a hollow cylinder was overpredicted. The differences are attributed primarily to an effective diffusion coefficient that varies with the scale morphology. An oxide layer grown on an outside surface of a solid cylinder or an external wedge was found to have a structure similar to one-dimensional planar-oxide growth. On the contrary, scale developed on the inside surface of a hollow cylinder or an internal wedge was observed to be more compact.
Reconstructibility of Graphs with a Large Branch: Permutation Group Theory and Graph Reconstruction

Let G be a connected graph having a pendant vertex v such that G-v has pendant vertices in at least two of its branches. Using techniques from permutation group theory, we prove that such a graph G is vertex reconstructible provided it has a branch of large order.
Endoscopic Ultrasound for Thoracic Disease

The focus of this chapter is to examine the role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the management of mediastinal lesions. EUS, owing to its diagnostic accuracy, tissue sampling capability, low morbidity, and time and cost savings has become an integral part of the multidisciplinary approach to the imaging and management of thoracic diseases. It is the intent of this chapter to outline the benefit of EUS as an adjunct to modalities such as bronchoscopy, positron emission tomography (PET), and computed tomography (CT) imaging in the evaluation of mediastinal diseases.
Trends in outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusions: a 25-year experience from the Mayo Clinic.

Objectives The aim of our study was to examine the trends in procedural success, in-hospital, and long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusions (CTO) over the last 25 years from a single PCI registry and to examine the impact of drug-eluting stents. Background The percutaneous treatment of CTO remains a major challenge. Past studies have used variable definitions of CTO, and there are limited data available from contemporary practice. Methods We evaluated the outcomes of 1,262 patients from the Mayo Clinic registry who required PCI for a CTO. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to the time of their intervention: group 1 (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty era), group 2 (early stent era), group 3 (bare-metal stent era), and group 4 (drug-eluting stent era). Results Procedural success rates were 51%, 72%, 73%, and 70% (p Conclusions Procedural success rates for CTO have not improved over time in the stent era, highlighting the need to develop new techniques and devices. Compared with the prestent era, in-hospital major adverse cardiac events and 1-year target vessel revascularization rates have declined by approximately 50%.
CEO compensation and earnings management: Does gender really matters?

Abstract A number of earlier studies suggest that earnings quality improves when females are in senior management because of gender differences in risk-taking and ethical attitude. We extend this literature by using gender socialization theory and agency theory to examine the earnings management behavior of female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) conditional on their equity incentives. We show that female CEOs do not necessarily reduce earnings management. At lower levels of equity-based compensation, female CEOs manipulate earnings to a lesser degree than their male counterparts. However, at higher levels of equity-based compensation, female and male CEOs exhibit very similar earnings management behaviors. Thus, given high equity incentives, all CEOs – regardless of gender – undertake a greater degree of earnings management activities. Consequently, there is little evidence that the gender of a CEO mitigates the propensity to increase the value of equity-based compensation by manipulating earnings.
Moving microbes: the dynamics of transient microbial residence on human skin

Abstract The human skin microbiome interacts intimately with human health, yet the drivers of skin microbiome composition and diversity are not well-understood. The composition of the skin microbiome has been characterized as both highly variable and relatively stable, depending on the time scale under consideration, and it is not clear what role contact with environmental sources of microbes plays in this variability. We experimentally mimicked human skin contact with two common environmental sources of microorganisms — soils and plant leaves — and characterized the dynamics of microbial acquisition and persistence on skin on very short time scales. Repeatable changes in skin community composition following encounters with environmental sources were observed, and these trajectories largely depend on donor community biomass distributions. Changes in composition persisted for at least 24 hours and through a soap and water wash following exposures to relatively high biomass soil communities. In contrast, exposures to lower biomass leaf communities were undetectable after a 24 hour period. Absolute abundances of bacterial taxa in source communities predicted transmission probabilities and residence times, independent of phylogenetic considerations. Our results suggest that variability in the composition of the skin microbiome can be driven by transient encounters with common environmental sources, and that these relatively transient effects can persist when the source is of sufficient biomass. Importance Humans come into contact with environmental sources of microbes, such as soil or plants, constantly. Those microbial exposures have been linked to health through training and modulation of the immune system. While much is known about the human skin microbiome, the short term dynamics after a contact event, such as touching soil, have not been well characterized. In this study, we examine what happens after such a contact event, describing trends in microbial transmission to and persistence on the skin. Additionally, we use computational sampling model simulations to interrogate null expectations for these kinds of experiments. This work has broad implications for infection control strategies and therapeutic techniques that rely on modification of the microbiome, such as probiotics and faecal transplantation.
Peripheral Precocious Puberty

Peripheral precocious puberty (also known as gonadotropin independent puberty) is the result of autonomous peripheral secretion of excess sex hormones independent of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. If left untreated peripheral precocious puberty can lead to central precocious puberty. The differential diagnosis includes sex hormone secreting tumors of the adrenal gland and ovary, McCune–Albright syndrome, Van Wyk–Grumbach syndrome, adrenal gland enzyme deficiencies, and exogenous exposure to sex hormones. The treatment of peripheral precocious puberty depends on the underlying cause.