cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
USING ESSENTIAL OILS TO COMBAT THE THREAT OF MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA, PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA

Objective: The development of antibiotics was a revolutionary scientific discovery and medical advancement that greatly extended the life expectancy of mankind. Through less than 100 y of using antibiotics to treat infectious bacteria, some of these highly adaptive organisms have developed resistance to the drugs. The healthcare field is greatly concerned with the threat of many common infections that have been considered treatable for decades, regaining its ability to be severely fatal; thus, making alternative treatments currently in high demand. This study concentrated on investigating an alternative treatment for a specific gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) , a resistance-gaining bacteria that commonly infects hospitalized patients with weakened immune systems and/or open wounds. Methods: Prior to the age of modern medicine, human beings relied on nature for medicinal treatments. In our research, we focused on determining the in vitro efficacy of using the essential oils, cassia and cinnamon bark, their major component, cinnamaldehyde, as well as the major component of manuka honey, methylglyoxal, as an alternative treatment against P. aeruginosa We tested cassia, cinnamon bark, cinnamaldehyde, and methylglyoxal using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method; the diameter of the zone of inhibition for each treated bacterial sample was measured and compared with the standard antibiotic treatments, tobramycin, and amikacin. Results: This study showed that the selected essential oils, cinnamaldehyde, and methylglyoxal were as effective or better in inhibiting the growth of P. aeruginosa compared to the standard aminoglycoside antibiotics. Conclusion: The tested essential oils, cinnamaldehyde, and methylglyoxal may be useful as an alternative treatment for infections caused by P. aeruginosa and may also provide communities where antibiotics are not readily available, a cost-effective way to treat this infectious disease.
Preexisting immunity, not frailty phenotype, predicts influenza postvaccination titers among older veterans

Both preexisting immunity to influenza and age have been shown to be a correlate of influenza vaccine response. Frailty, an indicator of functional impairment in older adults, has also been shown in one study to predict lower influenza vaccine responses among non-veterans. In the current study we aimed to determine the association between frailty, preexisting immunity and immune response to influenza vaccine in older veterans. We analyzed 117 subjects (age range 62-95 years; median 81) divided into 3 cohorts based on the Fried frailty test: non-frail (NF: N=23; median age 68), pre-frail (PF: N=50; median age 80) and frail (F:N=44; median age 82) during the 2010-2011 and 11-12 influenza seasons. Subjects received the seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine and baseline and post-vaccination samples were obtained. Anti-influenza humoral immunity as measured by hemagglutinin inhibition (HI) and microneutralization (MN) assays were measured for influenza B, A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) viruses. Post vaccination-titers to Influenza vaccine were not different between frail and NF subjects overall in this older subset of veterans. However, preexisting HI titers strongly correlated with post-vaccination titers among all functional status groups. When microneutralization titers are compared, the association between preexisting immunity and vaccine response varies by frailty status with the highest correlation observed in the NF subjects. In conclusion, preexisting immunity rather than frailty appear to predict post-influenza vaccine titer in this older veteran cohort.
Digital Democracy in America: A Look at Civic Engagement in an Internet Age

Although the Internet has redefined interactions between the individual and the community, the U.S. civic engagement that so impressed Tocqueville still occurs today. Using data derived from a longitudinal survey of undergraduate students at a Midwestern university, we find that digital civic engagement fills the void left by drops in more conventional forms of political participation. We also find that educators have an important role to play in cultivating and maintaining online and offline civic engagement among younger people. We conclude that scholars and undergraduate educators need to develop curricula that build upon the ways students currently participate in democracy.
National Cloud Computing Legislation Principles: Guidance for Public Sector Authorities Moving to the Cloud

Governments around the world are actively seeking to leverage the many benefits of cloud computing while also ensuring that they manage risks that deployment of the new technologies can raise. While laws and regulations related to the privacy and security of government data may already exist, many were drafted in the "pre-cloud" era and could therefore benefit from an update and revision. This paper explores some of the concepts that should be incorporated into new or amended laws that seek to guide public sector entities as they move their data and workloads to the cloud.
Shaping the Experience of a Cognitive Investment Adviser

In this paper we describe the design process of a multi-bot conversational system to assist people to make more informed decisions about finance. Several user activities were held to understand the experience of investment decisions, the opportunities to design financial cognitive advisers, and the user perceptions of such systems. Valuable information was gathered from four user studies which assisted the project team to decide what would be the best approach to help people to make more informed decisions about investments using technology. The user studies findings highlighted that financial decisions are made based on information people receive from friends, news, and social networks, which led us to explore intelligent systems that would gather such information and play the role of financial advisers in a multiparty conversational system. We discuss the main design implications of our studies in the context of a prototype called CognIA and conclude discussing several challenges of designing conversational systems.
Role of Development

Evaluating the child’s development is an integral part of the primary health care visit. This includes assessing developmental milestones and considering the factors that go into healthy development. These factors include physical and psychosocial growth; gross motor and fine motor coordination; brain development; temperament; family and cultural factors; cognitive, visual, and auditory development; psychosexual development; and language development. Children need to successfully complete one stage of development before they can move to the next stage in any domain.
Abstract IA24: The role of CCL18 signaling in breast tumor associated macrophages promoting cancer progression

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play critical roles in cancer progression. We focus on dissecting their underlying molecular mechanisms by applying human sample-based approaches, which include humanized mice, clinical samples and online clinical databases. Our data showed that CCL18, one of the most abundantly produced cytokines from human breast TAMs, is closely associated with advanced histopathological grading, triple negative breast cancer subtype, lymphovascular invasion, distant metastasis and poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. Mechanistic studies revealed that CCL18 induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and inflammatory cytokine secretion of tumor cells by activating NFkB pathway. Among the cytokines induced by CCL18, GM-CSF released from tumor cells undergone EMT in turn enhances the CCL18 production from TAMs and forms a positive feedback loop, which is essential to breast cancer metastasis, especially in the triple negative subtype. In addition, our recent study demonstrated that CCL18 could also mediate the activation and functions of other stromal cells in tumor microenvironment, leading to angiogenesis, recruitment of naive T cells and activation of a special subset of chemoresistance-inducing fibroblasts. Previously, the receptor of CCL18 remained unknown. By using immunoprecipitation and mass spectra of the membrane extracts, cell-free isotope binding assays, [Ca2+]I mobilization and cAMP assays, we identified PITPNM3 as a functional receptor for CCL18. RNAi silencing of PITPNM3 in either cancer cells or stromal cells significantly inhibited the tumor progression in vivo. In conclusion, we define CCL18 from TAMs as the axis of a novel inflammatory signaling network in tumor microenvironment and imply the potential clinical application by targeting its receptor. Citation Format: Erwei Song. The role of CCL18 signaling in breast tumor associated macrophages promoting cancer progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Metastasis; 2015 Nov 30-Dec 3; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(7 Suppl):Abstract nr IA24.
A Probabilistic Approach to Tensile Fracture of Composites with Holes

This paper investigates the micro fracture process in laminated composites based on a probabilistic approach. Two probabilistic fracture models; a statistical model and a stochastic model, have been developed for predicting the failure stress in composites containing geometric discontinuities such as holes and cracks. A two-parameter Weibull distribution of fiber strength and the elastic properties of matrix materials are used in the analysis. The results show that the fracture stress is related to notch size by a power law similar to that proposed by Mar and Lin. Experiments were conducted to verify the probabilistic fracture models developed. The strength reduction factors for boron/epoxy (0/-45/0/45)s laminates were obtained and the fiber damage near hole edge was studied. The experimental results agree well with the predictions from the probabilistic fracture models.
Theological and Philosophical underpinnings of Developmentalism

Depending on the dissemination of discursive forms through linguistic practices as well as a particular change in our contemporary doxa , the development language of collective social improvement has been based upon a particular mode of ontological naturalism. In a renewed version of the ontological mode that Descola termed "naturalism", international development has set social expectations in terms of a progressive future framed by violent ruptures, crises, perils and a threat actual of human annihilation. This paper investigates how this developmental enterprise and the consequent ideology of "developmentalism" have further expanded a bi-polar ontology. Since its inception, it articulates two radical sets of possibilities: one of infinite progress for humankind and one of its total annihilation according to the well-known metaphysics of possibilism. First, I will show how the institutionalization of development goes hand in hand with the emergence of a new form of naturalism that accentuates extreme possibilities as results of human action. My main claim here is that, after World War II, science and technology radicalized naturalism through the institutionalization of a new ideology. By presupposing a new transformational capability of science and technology, developmentalism furthers the naturalistic ontology.
Creation of the Media: A Review and Introspective

Paul Starr’s Creation of the Media provides a rich history of the social, political and legal infrastructure that shaped the American media from its earliest origin. Starr examines in incredible detail the political decisions made from approximately 1600 to 1941 regarding public discourse in most of its forms and analyzes how those contributed to the development of the media. Starr analyzes the context of American decision-making through an elaborate comparative analysis of the British, European and Canadian experience in an effort to fully describe the options available to the American power structure at critical points in history. At times the sheer volume of the comparative detail threatens to overwhelm the casual reader, but anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding will embrace Starr’s approach with gusto. Starr’s narrative includes numerous footnotes to extensive scholarly works and other useful source material. As a result, Creation of the Media represents an exceptional resource for the interested lay reader as well as the dedicated academic.
Managing Architectural Records in the House that Rubber Built: A Case Study in Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration in Museum Archives

ABSTRACTManaging architectural records presents a number of challenges, especially in museums and historic sites where a number of disciplines tend to converge. This case study will chronicle the a...
Comparison of outcomes following laparoscopic and open treatment of emergent small bowel obstruction: an 11-year analysis of ACS NSQIP

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) continues to be a common indication for acute care surgery. While open procedures are still widely used for treatment, laparoscopic procedures may have important advantages in certain patient populations. We aim to analyze differences in outcomes between the two for treatment of bowel obstruction. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was used to find patients that underwent emergent or non-elective surgery for SBO. Propensity matching was used to create comparable groups. Logistic regression was used to assess differences in the primary outcome of interest, return to operating room, and morbidity and mortality outcomes. Logistic regression was also used to assess the contribution of various preoperative demographic and comorbidity characteristics to 30-day mortality. A total of 24,028 patients underwent surgery for SBO from 2005 to 2011. Of those, 3391 were laparoscopic. Propensity matching resulted in 6782 matched patients. Laparoscopic cases had significantly decreased odds of experiencing any morbidity and wound complications compared to open cases in bowel-resection and adhesiolysis-only cases. There was no significant difference found for odds of returning to operating room. Laparoscopic cases resulted in significantly shorter hospital stays than open cases (7.18 vs.10.84 days, p 25) decreased odds of mortality. Analysis of emergent SBO cases between 2005 and 2015 demonstrates that laparoscopy is not utilized as often as open approaches in surgical treatment. Laparoscopic surgery resulted in reduced postoperative morbidity and significantly shorter hospital stays compared to open intervention and was not associated with significant differences in odds of reoperation compared to open surgery.
Results of encoding knowledge with tutor construction tools

We have developed and evaluated a set of tutor construction tools which enabled three computer-naive educators to build, test and modify an intelligent tutoring system. The tools constitute a knowledge acquisition interface for representing and rapid prototyping both domain and tutoring knowledge. A formative evaluation is described which lasted nearly two years and involved 20 students. This research aims to understand and support the knowledge acquisition process in education and to facilitate browsing and modification of knowledge. Results of a person-hour analysis of throughput factors are provided along with knowledge representation and engineering issues for developing knowledge acquisition interfaces in education.
Cephamycin Production by Streptomyces Clavuligerus

The classical β-lactam antibiotics can be divided into hydrophobic and hydrophilic fermentation products. The hydrophobic members, e.g. benzylpenicillin (penicillin G) and phenoxymethylpenicillin (penicillin V), contain non-polar side chains, e.g. phenylacetate and phenoxyacetate, respectively, and are made only by filamentous fungi; the best known of these is Penicillium chrysogenum. The hydrophilic types are penicillin N, cephalosporins and 7-a-methoxycephalosporins (cephamycins) which are made by fungi, actinomycetes and unicellular bacteria. They all contain the polar side chain, D-α-aminoadipate.
The Corruption of Latin America

The nations of Latin America are afflicted with corruption, public and private. Reverberations from Brazil’s ongoing Lava Jato scandal have implicated at least a third of the countries of the region in its pay-for-play results. At the center of this vast web of conspiracy and illicit dealings are construction companies, giant petroleum exploiters, and presidents, vice-presidents, cabinet ministers, and regional political leaders across the continent. This chapter and the ones that follow explain what happened and why it happened (over decades in some instances) across a range of troubled Latin American countries from Argentina in the south to Mexico in the north. A section in this chapter explains why Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica are less corrupt than their neighbors. A final chapter suggests how Latin America can reduce the onslaught of corruption.
Genetic Analysis Reveals AMPK Is Required to Support Tumor Growth in Murine Kras-Dependent Lung Cancer Models

AMPK, a conserved sensor of low cellular energy, can either repress or promote tumor growth depending on the context. However, no studies have examined AMPK function in autochthonous genetic mouse models of epithelial cancer. Here, we examine the role of AMPK in murine KrasG12D-mediated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a cancer type in humans that harbors frequent inactivating mutations in the LKB1 tumor suppressor-the predominant upstream activating kinase of AMPK and 12 related kinases. Unlike LKB1 deletion, AMPK deletion in KrasG12D lung tumors did not accelerate lung tumor growth. Moreover, deletion of AMPK in KrasG12D p53f/f tumors reduced lung tumor burden. We identified a critical role for AMPK in regulating lysosomal gene expression through the Tfe3 transcription factor, which was required to support NSCLC growth. Thus, AMPK supports the growth of KrasG12D-dependent lung cancer through the induction of lysosomes, highlighting an unrecognized liability of NSCLC.
MO-A-201-00: A Cliff's Notes Version of Proton Therapy

Proton therapy is a rapidly growing modality in the fight against cancer. From a high-level perspective the process of proton therapy is identical to x-ray based external beam radiotherapy. However, this course is meant to illustrate for x-ray physicists the many differences between x-ray and proton based practices. Unlike in x-ray therapy, proton dose calculations use CT Hounsfield Units (HU) to determine proton stopping power and calculate the range of a beam in a patient. Errors in stopping power dominate the dosimetric uncertainty in the beam direction, while variations in patient position determine uncertainties orthogonal to the beam path. Mismatches between geometric and range errors lead to asymmetric uncertainties, and so while geometric uncertainties in x-ray therapy are mitigated through the use of a Planning Target Volume (PTV), this approach is not suitable for proton therapy. Robust treatment planning and evaluation are critical in proton therapy, and will be discussed in this course. Predicting the biological effect of a proton dose distribution within a patient is also a complex undertaking. The proton therapy community has generally regarded the Radiobiological Effectiveness (RBE) of a proton beam to be 1.1 everywhere in the patient, but there are increasing data to suggest that the RBE probably climbs higher than 1.1 near the end of a proton beam when the energy deposition density increases. This lecture will discuss the evidence for variable RBE in proton therapy and describe how this is incorporated into current proton treatment planning strategies. Finally, there are unique challenges presented by the delivery process of proton therapy. Many modern systems use a spot scanning technique which has several advantages over earlier scattered beam designs. However, the time dependence of the dose deposition leads to greater concern with organ motion than with scattered protons or x-rays. Image guidance techniques in proton therapy may also differ from standard x-ray approaches, due to equipment design or the desire to maximize efficiency within a high-cost proton therapy treatment room. Differences between x-ray and proton therapy delivery will be described. Learning Objectives: 1.Understand how CT HU are calibrated to provide proton stopping power, and the sources of uncertainty in this process. 2.Understand why a PTV is not suitable for proton therapy, and how robust treatment planning and evaluation are used to mitigate uncertainties. 3.Understand the source and implications of variable RBE in proton therapy 4.Learn about proton specific challenges and approaches in beam delivery and image guidance Jon Kruse has a research grant from Varian Medical Systems related to proton therapy treatment plannning.; J. Kruse, Jon Kruse has a research grant with Varian Medical Systems related to proton therapy planning.
Properties of membrane stationary states. I. The microcanonical membranes.

The flux of permeant species through a membrane is examined using discrete state stochastic models for the transport process within the membrane. While a membrane flux is maintained due to a concentration gradient between bathing solutions, the distribution of species within the membrane evolves to a time invariant configuration which can differ significantly from the equilibrium configuration. Some special properties of these stationary states are examined using linear, microcanonical models for the membrane transport process. Analysis of these models reveals properties which are masked by the phenomenological analysis of irreversible thermodynamics. For example, the models can be used to study the nature of multi-state relaxation within the membrane by observation of the time dependence of the net membrane flux when the membrane is perturbed from its stationary state distribution. Under some conditions, multi-state models will produce relaxation similar to that observed for single-state processes. The symmetry within the membrane is a critical factor for monitoring relaxation processes within the membrane. Because of the stationary nature of the membrane configuration, statistical thermodynamic variables can be defined for the membrane configuration. The total system is not in equilibrium since the baths must still be described by dissipation functions. In the stationary state, the configurational entropy of the membrane is lowered relative to equilibrium and is shown to depend quadratically on the time independent parameter (j/p) wherej is the membrane flux andp is a characteristic transition probability for intra-membrane transitions. The basic membrane system serves as a quantitative example of the entropy reduction possible in a stationary state system. An allosteric transition mediated by the stationary state configuration is examined as a means of utilizing this negentropy production.
Special Education Service Use by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In the last decade, the prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability (ID) in schools has increased. However, there is a paucity of information on special education placement, service use, and relationships between service use and demographic variables for children with ASD without ID. This study aimed to describe and explore variation in type and amount of special education services provided to (N = 89) children with ASD. Results indicated that the largest percentage of children received services under the Autism classification (56.2%) and were in partial-inclusion settings (40.4%). The main services received were speech (70.8%) and occupational (56.2%) therapies, while few children received behavior plans (15.7%) or social skills instruction (16.9%). Correlates with service use are described.
Disease and Yield Response of a Stem-rot-resistant and -Susceptible Peanut Cultivar under Varying Fungicide Inputs.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) producers rely on costly fungicide programs to manage stem rot, caused by Sclerotium rolfsii. Planting disease-resistant cultivars could increase profits by allowing fo...
Single Cell RNA-seq Reveals Zinc Metabolism Defect of Alveolar Type II Cells with Aging in IPF

Introduction and background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal form of interstitial lung disease that mainly affects the elderly population. One of the hallmarks of IPF pathogenesis is dysfunction of Type 2 alveolar epithelial progenitor cells (AEC2s). We reported that there is a significant loss of AEC2s from IPF lungs. Aims and objective: To determine the metabolic mechanism of AEC2 dysfunction during aging in persistent lung fibrosis. Methods: Single cell RNA-seq of IPF AEC2s as well as murine AEC2s from old and bleomycin-injured mouse lungs. 3D organoid culture of AEC2 was used for assessing AEC2 renewal capacity. Mouse line with AEC2 cell type specific gene deletion was generated to determine the role of Zip8 in lung fibrosis in vivo. Results: Similar to that in IPF lungs, there is a reduction in AEC2 cell number as well as renewal capacity of AEC2s in old mouse lungs. Single cell RNA-seq analysis identified reduction in gene expression of SLC39A8 (ZIP8), the gene encoding a specific zinc transporter for AEC2s, in IPF AEC2s, as well as AEC2s from old and bleomycin injured mouse lungs. Replenishment with exogenous zinc promotes self-renewal and differentiation of AEC2s, and the response to zinc treatment was diminished in aged AEC2s. Zip8 Deletion in murine AEC2s leads to downregulation of Sirt1 expression, reduced number of AEC2s recovered from the lungs, and reduced renewal capacity of AEC2s. Conclusion: We have identified novel metabolic defects of AEC2s during aging and in IPF. Therapeutic strategies to restore critical components of these metabolic programs could improve AEC2 progenitor activity and mitigate ongoing fibrogenesis.
Original ContributionsObstructive defecation: a failure of rectoanal coordination

Objective: The pathophysiology of obstructive defecation is unclear. We investigated whether impaired rectoanal coordination causes obstructive defecation and if this dysfunction can be corrected by biofeedback therapy. Methods: We prospectively studied 25 healthy subjects and 35 consecutive patients with constipation (>1 year) with anorectal manometry and balloon expulsion test. Symptoms were assessed from diary cards. Patients found to have obstructive defecation were offered biofeedback therapy. After treatment, their defecation dynamics and symptoms were reassessed. Results: Eighteen patients had obstructive defecation and 17 had normal defecation dynamics (nonobstructive). Five normals (20%) exhibited obstructive pattern but only one failed to expel balloon. In the obstructive group, during straining, the intrarectal pressure and defecation index were lower (p < 0.05), and anal residual pressure was higher (p < 0.01) when compared with the nonobstructive group or normals. After biofeedback therapy, the intrarectal pressure and defecation index increased (p < 0.02) and anal residual pressure decreased (p < 0.001); stool frequency, degree of straining, and bowel satisfaction scores improved (p < 0.05); 67% stopped laxatives and 11 patients discontinued stooling with digitation. Conclusion: Patients with obstructive defecation showed impaired rectal contraction, paradoxical anal contraction, or inadequate anal relaxation. These features suggest that rectoanal coordination was impaired. Biofeedback therapy rectified these pathophysiological disturbances and improved constipation.
On the origin of drag increase in varying-phase opposition control

Abstract This study investigates the physics underlying the drag increase in a low Reynolds number turbulent channel flow due to varying-phase opposition control by means of direct numerical simulation and modal analysis. The drag increase occurs for an extended region of the parameter space and we consider a controller with a positive phase shift in Fourier domain between sensor measurement and actuator response as a representative example for this regime. Analyses of instantaneous flow fields as well as spatial power spectra show that the structure of drag-increased flows is remarkably different from that of drag-reduced and canonical flows. In particular, the near-wall region is dominated by structures of short streamwise and large spanwise extent. Isolation of a representative control scale shows that these energetic structures can be characterized as spanwise rollers, which induce strong ejection and sweep motions and lead to drag increase. The presence of rollers, and therefore drag increase, in the full nonlinear system correlates well with the presence of an amplified eigenvalue in the eigenspectrum of the linearized Navier–Stokes operator. It is further shown that the scales responsible for drag increase at positive phase shifts are inactive at negative phase shifts and do not contribute to drag reduction. These scales can therefore be excluded from a controller aimed at drag reduction, which relaxes the spatial resolution requirements on the control hardware. The eigenspectrum may be used as a computationally cheap tool to identify such detrimental scales during an early design stage.
What Do We Learn from the Crime and Safety Data on Home Shares

This chapter explores available crime and safety data on home sharing compared to hotels. First, this chapter begins by highlighting two case studies that illustrate security and safety concerns: a murder and an accidental death occurring on Airbnb properties. Second, the lack of uniform quantitative crime data is discussed. Third, a review of qualitative reports of crime and accidents identifies security risks related to home sharing for both guests and hosts. This analysis shows that there are many crimes that occur at home shares which are unique to this type of lodging. Those include bait and switch, fake listings, illegal listings, and other frauds, enumerated here. The chapter closes with a review of safety concerns in hotels and home shares.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and International Law

How does the COVID-19 pandemic affect States’ obligations under international law? This is a question of not just academic interest but real importance for people’s lives. After all, whether States abide by international law—and whether international law is fit for purpose—is vitally important for everyone from refugees exposed to the virus in unsanitary detention centers to national leaders fighting disinformation campaigns and safeguarding vaccine supply chains. International law has been central to the world’s response to the pandemic from the start—even if the participants did not always realize it. International law, after all, required States to take certain actions to detect and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Some governments responded quickly and effectively, significantly reducing the impact on their populations, but many others were far less successful. Many have made matters worse by responding to the virus in ways that exacerbated the toll on the most vulnerable populations, violating their international law obligations in the process. Moreover, some States have used the pandemic as an excuse for delaying elections or for denying arrested persons adequate legal representation. This Article examines the many ways in which COVID-19 is straining the rules and norms of international law. It considers the five main bodies of international law implicated by the pandemic: international humanitarian law, international human rights law, immigration and refugee law, international cyber law, and the rules and regulations of the World Health Organization. It outlines the obligations each body of law impose on States, and how those obligations apply during the current pandemic. It concludes with several proposals for reform to the international legal system so that the world can prepare to more effectively address the next inevitable pandemic.
Impact and predictors of readmission in hypercalcemia of malignancy: Findings of a nationwide analysis.

e18809Background: Hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) is common in cancer. It is a sign of advanced malignancy and associated with poor outcomes. Although a well-known phenomenon, treatment options a...
Surface-Guided Image Fusion for Preserving Cortical Details in Human Brain Templates

Human brain templates are a basis for comparison of brain features across individuals. They should ideally capture anatomical details at both coarse and fine scales to facilitate comparison at varying granularity. Brain template construction typically involves spatial normalization and image fusion. While significant efforts have been dedicated to improving brain templates with sophisticated spatial normalization algorithms, image fusion is typically carried out using intensity-based averaging, causing blurring of anatomical structures. Here, we present an image fusion method that exploits cortical surfaces as guidance to help preserve details in brain templates. Our method encodes cortical boundary information given by a cortical surface mesh in a signed distance function (SDF) map. We use the SDF map to help determine localized contributions of the individual images, especially at cortical boundaries, in image fusion. Experimental results demonstrate that our method significantly improves the preservation of fine gyral and sulcal details, resulting in detailed brain templates with good surface-volume agreement.
Spectrally-Resolved, DC-Balanced Homodyne Detection for Ultrafast, Multimode, Quantum Field State Measurement

A novel method for determining the quantum state of correlated multimode radiation with ultrafast temporal resolution using spectrally-resolved multiport balanced homodyne detection is described.
Modified piggyback technique for adult orthotopic liver transplantation.

With more than 4,000 liver transplantations currently being performed each year in the United States, several events have contributed to the improvement in outcomes, including improvements in perioperative and postoperative management, donor management, and immunosuppressive regimens; and modifications in surgical techniques. From December 1991 to December 1998, we have been actively involved in liver transplantation. The evolution of our surgical techniques has included the introduction of a modification to the piggyback anastomosis. We have reviewed our technique to assess whether there has been an impact on patient outcomes.
A Clinical Translation of the Article Titled “Development and Testing of the Combined Assessment of Psychiatric Environments (CAPE): A Patient-Centered Quality Measure for Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment”

BACKGROUND: There is a need for an easy-to-use measure of meaningful and important inpatient psychiatric treatment. METHOD: This is a clinical translation of a research article by Delaney and colleagues (this issue of JAPNA) that describes the development and testing of a new measure called the Combined Assessment of Psychiatric Environments (CAPE). The measure was tested with patients and staff on six different inpatient psychiatric units. RESULTS: The staff and patient versions of the CAPE were shown to be valid (accurate measure of safe, patient-centered care) and reliable (precise measure that shows stability over time). CONCLUSION: The CAPE is a new measure that can be used to examine staff and patient experiences of nursing practice on inpatient psychiatric units.
Sex, scandal, and celebrity in late-eighteenth century England, by Matthew Kinservik

Matthew Kinservik's Sex, Scandal and Celebrity tells a great story about an eighteenth century duchess who was accused and convicted of bigamy, after secretly marrying a British naval lieutenant wh...
A Recirculatory Model of the Pulmonary Uptake and Pharmacokinetics of Lidocaine Based on Analysis of Arterial and Mixed Venous Data from Dogs

Pulmonary uptake of basic amine xenobiotics such as lidocaine may influence the onset of drug effect and ameliorate toxicity. To date, pharmacokinetic analysis of pulmonary drug uptake has been only semiquantitative and ill-suited for relating pharmacodynamics to pharmacokinetics or jar estimating the time course of the fraction of drug dose residing in the lung during a single pass. We have developed recirculatory models in an experiment in which lidocaine was injected into the right atrium simultaneously with markers of intravascular space (indocyanine green) and total body water (antipyrine): this was followed by rapid arterial and mixed venous blood sampling. Such models are interpretable physiologically and are capable of characterizing the kinetics of the pulmonary uptake of lidocaine in addition to peripheral tissue distribution and elimination. The apparent pulmonary tissue volume of lidocaine (39 ml/kg) was nearly ninefold greater than that of antipyrine (4.5 ml/kg). The recirculatory model characterized both arterial and mixed venous data, but the latter data were not essential for estimating lidocaine's pulmonary disposition either before or after recirculation of drug was evident.
Quality contracts for real-time enterprises

Real-time enterprises rely on user queries being answered in a timely fashion and using fresh data. This is relatively easy when systems are lightly loaded and both queries and updates can be finished quickly. However, this goal becomes fundamentally hard to achieve due to the high volume of queries and updates in real systems, especially in periods of flash crowds. In such cases, systems typically try to optimize for the average case, treating all users, queries, and data equally. In this paper, we argue that it is more beneficial for real-time enterprises to have the users specify how to balance such a tradeoff between Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Data (QoD), in other words, "instructing" the system on how to best allocate resources to maximize the overall user satisfaction. Specifically, we propose Quality Contracts (QC) which is a framework based on the micro-economic paradigm and provides an intuitive and easy to use, yet very powerful way for users to specify their preferences for QoS and QoD. Beyond presenting the QC framework, we present results of applying it in two different domains: scheduling in real-time web-databases and replica selection in distributed query processing.
Dynamic Stability of Tube Conveying Fluid

The parametric resonance of a simply supported tube is studied analytically. By employing Galerkin's method, the equation of motion is reduced to a system of coupled Mathieu-Hill-type equations with multiharmonic coefficients. The stability-instability region boundaries are constructed by the methods of Hsu and Bolotin. The results obtained by Hsu's first approximation show that combination resonance is possible and that the coupling terms do not influence the principal and second instability regions. The higher order approximation is obtained by Bolotin's method which shows that the effect of the coupling terms is to lower, in frequency, the instability regions; they have no effect on the size of the instability regions.
Identification of carcinogens by measurement of cell-mediated immunity: III. Immunity to asbestos-induced rat peritoneal mesothelioma☆

Abstract Antitumor cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses were detected in rats with asbestos (Canadian chrysotile B)-induced peritoneal mesotheliomas. The CMI was determined by in vitro lymphoid-cell cytotoxicity expressed by committed peripheral blood lymphoid cells (PBLC) obtained from the tumor-bearing animals toward cultured target cells of the tumors. Two apparently different target cell cultures which were developed from tumors of the same rat, one with epitheliod and the other with fibroblastic morphology, were lysed to the same degree by the sensitized PBLC. Specificity was observed for the PBLC reactivity as no cytotoxicity was expressed toward target cells derived from tumors of either ectodermal or entodermal origin. Nor were PBLC obtained from rats bearing tumors of these two tissue types capable of expressing injury to the mesothelioma target cells. These findings indicate that immune responsiveness developed to mesothelioma and suggest that such measurements might be useful for detecting environmental exposures to asbestos fibers.
Merit and Blessing in Mainland Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective

Merit and Blessing in Mainland Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective. Cornelia Ann Kammerer and Nicola Tannenbaum. eds. Yale Southeast Asia Studies, 45. New Haven, CT: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1996. 263 pp.
Perturbations of the Haar wavelet

Let m ∈ Z+ be given. For any e > 0 we construct a function f{e} having the following properties: (a) f{e} has support in [−e, 1 + e]. (b) f{e} ∈ Cm(−∞,∞). (c) If h denotes the Haar function and 0 < δ <∞, then ‖f−h‖Lδ(R) ≤ (1+2δ)1/δ(2e)1/δ . (d) f{e} generates an affine Riesz basis whose frame bounds (which are given explicitly) converge to 1 as e→ 0. Let H be a Hilbert space with inner product 〈·, ·〉 and norm ‖ · ‖ := 〈·, ·〉1/2. Let Z+ denote the natural numbers. A sequence {fn, n ∈ Z+} ⊂ H is called a frame if there are constants A and B such that for every f ∈ H A‖f‖2 ≤ ∑ n∈Z+ |〈f, fn〉| ≤ B‖f‖2. The constants A and B are called bounds of the frame. If only the right-hand inequality is satisfied for all f ∈ H, then {fn, n ∈ Z+} is called a Bessel sequence with bound B. A frame is called exact, or a Riesz basis, if upon the removal of any single element of the sequence, it ceases to be a frame. However, not every frame is a Riesz basis: as is well known, a sequence {fn, n ∈ Z+} ⊂ H is a Riesz basis if and only if it is the image of an orthonormal basis under a bounded invertible linear operator U : H → H ([1, 11]). Clearly for an orthonormal basis both frame bounds equal 1. In [5] it is shown that adding a Bessel sequence with a small bound to a Riesz basis transforms the original basis into another Riesz basis. It is also shown how frame bounds for the new basis are obtained from frame bounds of the original basis. Given an arbitrary positive integer m, in the present paper we use these results to perturb the Haar function into a function f{e} ∈ Cm(−∞,∞) with support in [−e, 1 + e] (thus having good time and frequency localization) that preserves the symmetry of the Haar wavelet and generates an affine Riesz basis in L2(−∞,∞). The lack of orthogonality precludes the use of the fast wavelet transform. On the other hand the functions f{e} are given explicitly in terms of cardinal B-splines. Other wavelets do not have a closed form representation and have to be obtained recursively, using the cascade algorithm [4, 10]. Since frame bounds are given Received by the editors March 18, 1996 and, in revised form, June 21, 1996. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 42C99; Secondary 41A05, 46C99.
Antioxidant activity and consumer acceptance of grape seed flour‐containing food products

Summary Grape seed flour (GSF) is produced from the pomace waste generated during winemaking. The inclusion of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon GSFs in cereal bars, pancakes and noodles was evaluated using antioxidant activity measurements [2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging]. Each product (noodles, pancakes and cereal bars) was also evaluated on separate days for consumer acceptance (n = 100 per panel). In comparing antioxidant activities, the highest DPPH radical-scavenging activity was in pancakes containing Cabernet Sauvignon GSF (25% and 30%), noodles containing Cabernet Sauvignon GSF (20%) and cereal bars containing Merlot GSF (5%). From consumer sensory evaluation, cereal bars made with Merlot GSF, control pancakes and control noodles had high consumer acceptance. Products with low consumer acceptance included pancakes containing 25% Cabernet Sauvignon GSF and noodles containing 20% Cabernet Sauvignon GSF. Overall, the cereal bar containing 5% Merlot GSF showed a good balance of high antioxidant activity with consumer acceptability, making this a promising GSF-containing new food product.
From graceful labellings of paths to cyclic solutions of the Oberwolfach problem

Constraints are given on graceful labellings for paths that allow them to be used to construct cyclic solutions to the Oberwolfach Problem. We give examples of graceful labellings meeting these constraints and hence, infinitely many new families of cyclic solutions can be constructed.
Bringing Nature Back In: The Challenge of Environmental Sociology

L'A. affirme que depuis vingt ans les sociologues s'interessent de plus en plus aux problemes lies a la protection de l'environnement. Il examine les domaines de recherche developpes par la sociologie environnementale. Il presente trois types de perspectives elabores dans ce cadre. Le premier analyse les preoccupations en matiere environnementale au niveau des traites internationaux, le second etudie l'organisation des mouvements ecologiques, le troisieme s'efforce de saisir les representations sociales de la nature
Turbulent air flow over the dominant component of wind-generated water waves

This paper presents a laboratory study of the dynamic properties of air flow over small wind-generated water waves. On the basis of measurements of mean velocity profiles, turbulent intensity profiles and energy spectra, the detailed structure of turbulent wind immediately above and between the crests of progressive water waves has been examined.The velocity sensor (a hot-wire anemometer) was fastened to a self-adjusting positioner to measure instantaneous air velocities at a fixed distance from a moving water surface. The waves had a dominant frequency, 2·4 Hz, and a ratio of wave celerity and air friction velocity close to one. With the aid of a digital computer, the desired parameters of air flow were obtained by a statistical technique which was developed to sample and average simultaneous recordings of water surface displacements and instantaneous air velocities.The results of the wind field measurements over representative waves indicate that, on the average, the air flow separates from the wavy water surface just behind crests, and reattaches somewhere on the windward face of the next wave. The measured turbulent quantities consistently show the characteristics of separated air flow. The separation phenomenon suggests that, without some modification, the Benjamin-Miles shearing flow mechanism is inapplicable to the growth of fully-developed small water waves, at least when the ratio of the phase speed to air friction velocity is of order unity. The observed flow configuration tends to support the separation mechanism of energy transfer originally outlined by Jeffreys and later explored further by Stewart and Deardorff.Mean properties of the turbulent air flow referred to the mean water level were obtained by continuous sampling of the air flow over many waves with a sensing probe, either at a fixed distance from the mean water level (fixed probe measurement) or at a constant distance from the moving water surface (moving probe measurement). It was found that for continuously averaged measurements, the fixed probe yielded results which deviate less from the local mean than the moving probe results. This holds for the mean velocity distributions and especially for the turbulent quantities.
Developmental changes in children's understanding of future likelihood and uncertainty

Abstract Two measures assessed 4–10-year-olds’ and adults’ ( N = 201) understanding of future likelihood and uncertainty. In one task, participants sequenced sets of event pictures varying by one physical dimension according to increasing future likelihood. In a separate task, participants rated characters’ thoughts about the likelihood of future events, their emotions, and their decisions in indeterminate social situations. Results showed significant development between ages 4 and 10 in seriating events according to future likelihood and in selecting thought and emotion ratings indicative of future uncertainty. Higher performance on the future likelihood ordering task correlated with greater understanding of future uncertainty in thought, emotion, and decision judgments. Females judged future events to be more uncertain than males.