cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of Inherent Muscle Length on Isometric Plantar Flexion Torque in Healthy Women

This study investigated the relationship between inherent muscle length and torque production in 59 healthy women. We recorded nondominant ankle range-of-motion values for each subject. These values were partitioned into quartiles for two knee positions. Women with “loose” plantar flexor muscles comprised the first quartile, and those with “tight” plantar flexor muscles the fourth quartile. Tight- and loose-muscle groups were established for the 0-degree (fully extended) and 90-degree (flexed) knee test positions for data analysis. Torque measurements were obtained using an isokinetic testing apparatus. We asked each subject to perform a maximal isometric (static) plantar flexion contraction at each of three ankle positions: 7 degrees of dorsiflexion (angle A), 0 degrees or neutral (angle B), and 30 degrees of plantar flexion (angle C). Data analysis was performed using an analysis of variance for repeated measures. Results indicated that torque produced by the tight-muscle groups was significantly greater than the torque produced by the loose-muscle groups at both knee positions ( p < .05). Additionally, the ankle ROM data obtained suggest normative data different from those currently prevalent in the literature. Findings of this study may prove valuable in the rehabilitation of ankle injuries and could be beneficial especially to physical therapists in understanding more about normal ankle function.
Adenylylation of small RNA sequencing adapters using the TS2126 RNA ligase I

Many high-throughput small RNA next-generation sequencing protocols use 5' preadenylylated DNA oligonucleotide adapters during cDNA library preparation. Preadenylylation of the DNA adapter's 5' end frees from ATP-dependence the ligation of the adapter to RNA collections, thereby avoiding ATP-dependent side reactions. However, preadenylylation of the DNA adapters can be costly and difficult. The currently available method for chemical adenylylation of DNA adapters is inefficient and uses techniques not typically practiced in laboratories profiling cellular RNA expression. An alternative enzymatic method using a commercial RNA ligase was recently introduced, but this enzyme works best as a stoichiometric adenylylating reagent rather than a catalyst and can therefore prove costly when several variant adapters are needed or during scale-up or high-throughput adenylylation procedures. Here, we describe a simple, scalable, and highly efficient method for the 5' adenylylation of DNA oligonucleotides using the thermostable RNA ligase 1 from bacteriophage TS2126. Adapters with 3' blocking groups are adenylylated at >95% yield at catalytic enzyme-to-adapter ratios and need not be gel purified before ligation to RNA acceptors. Experimental conditions are also reported that enable DNA adapters with free 3' ends to be 5' adenylylated at >90% efficiency.
Technology Affordances and Emotion Regulation Strategies: A Qualitative Study

Emotion regulation is attracting increasing research attention in the management literature. Abundant research exists regarding emotion regulation strategies, the method to regulate individuals’ em...
Doubly Stochastic Sequential Assignment Problem

This article introduces the Doubly Stochastic Sequential Assignment Problem (DSSAP), an extension of the Sequential Stochastic Assignment Problem (SSAP), where sequentially arriving tasks are assigned to workers with random success rates. A given number of tasks arrive sequentially, each with a random value coming from a known distribution. On a task arrival, it must be assigned to one of the available workers, each with a random success rate coming from a known distribution. Optimal assignment policies are proposed for DSSAP under various assumptions on the random success rates. The optimal assignment algorithm for the general case of DSSAP, where workers have distinct success rate distribution, has an exponential running time. An approximation algorithm that achieves a fraction of the maximum total expected reward in a polynomial time is proposed. The results are illustrated by several numerical experiments. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2016
3-D Photoacoustic Tomography Brain Imaging in Behaving Animals

A miniaturized 3D wearable PAT (3D-wPAT) technique is described for brain study in behaving animals. This 3D-wPAT technique has a considerable potential in neuroscience studies, such as behavior, cognition, and preclinical brain disease researches.
Memorial of Charles B. Sclar, 1925–2001

Charles B. Sclar, professor emeritus of geological sciences at Lehigh University, died Saturday, January 13. He was a professor at Lehigh since 1968, retiring in 1990. A mineral, “sclarite,” was named after him in 1988 in honor of his research into the origin of the zinc ores of Franklin and Sterling Hill in Sussex Hills, N.J. Sclar and his students had extensively studied the area’s zinc ore deposits for 20 years. The discoverers of the mineral were scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of Natural Science in Ottawa, Canada. Sclar was one of the principal investigators for NASA on the Lunar Sample Analysis Program of the Apollo Program, from its inception in 1969 until 1978. He was one of only 142 scientists …
Hyperfine structure of the Na2 0g- long-range molecular state.

We report a full theoretical calculation of the rovibrational structure of the ${\mathrm{Na}}_{2} {0}_{g}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ state, including hyperfine structure. The purely long-range ${0}_{g}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ state has been observed in the photoassociation spectroscopy of ultracold trapped alkali-metal atoms. For the lighter alkali-metal atoms (Li, Na, and K), the purely long-range states are completely characterized by atomic data since the inner turning point of the potentials are at internuclear separations where exchange interactions are still negligible.
Improving advance care planning for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking older adults: study protocol for the PREPARE randomised controlled trial

Introduction Advance care planning (ACP) is a process that allows patients to identify their goals for medical care. Traditionally, ACP has focused on completing advance directives; however, we have expanded the ACP paradigm to also prepare patients to communicate their wishes and make informed decisions. To this end, we created an ACP website called PREPARE (http://www.prepareforyourcare.org) to prepare diverse English-speaking and Spanish-speaking older adults for medical decision-making. Here, we describe the study protocol for a randomised controlled efficacy trial of PREPARE in a safety-net setting. The goal is to determine the efficacy of PREPARE to engage diverse English-speaking and Spanish-speaking older adults in a full spectrum of ACP behaviours. Methods and analysis We include English-speaking and Spanish-speaking adults from an urban public hospital who are ≥55 years old, have ≥2 chronic medical conditions and have seen a primary care physician ≥2 times in the last year. Participants are randomised to the PREPARE intervention (review PREPARE and an easy-to-read advance directive) or the control arm (only the easy-to-read advance directive). The primary outcome is documentation of an advance directive and/or ACP discussion. Secondary outcomes include ACP behaviour change processes measured with validated surveys (eg, self-efficacy, readiness) and a broad range of ACP actions (eg, choosing a surrogate, identifying goals for care, discussing ACP with clinicians and/or surrogates). Using blinded outcome ascertainment, outcomes will be measured at 1 week and at 3, 6 and 12 months, and compared between study arms using mixed-effects logistic regression and mixed-effects linear, Poisson or negative binomial regression. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the appropriate Institutional Review Boards and is guided by input from patient and clinical advisory boards and a data safety monitoring board. The results of this study will be disseminated to academic and community stakeholders. Trial registration numbers NCT01990235; NCT02072941; Pre-results.
Bis[2,6-bis­(tri­methyl­silyl­amino)­pyridine-κN1]{[6-bis­(tri­methyl­silyl­amino)­pyridin-2-yl-κN1](tri­methyl­sil­yl)aza­nido-κN}lithium

The title complex, [Li(C11H22N3Si2)(C11H23N3Si2)2], contains a single lithium cation coordinated to three ligands. This is the first reported example of the ligand 2,6-bis(trimethylsilylamino)pyridine supporting a monometallic complex. One ligand is mono-anionic and forms a four-membered chelate ring with the lithium cation via the pyridine and silyl­amido N atoms. The other two ligands are neutral and bind via the pyridine nitro­gen. The lithium cation is coordinated in a tetra­hedral environment. No intra- or inter­molecular hydrogen bonding is observed in the crystal structure, likely indicating that weak electrostatic inter­actions are the dominant feature of the crystal packing.
“New Laws, New Counsels”: The Problem of Politics in Paradise Lost

Treatments of Milton’s politics in Paradise Lost follow the protocols of Milton criticism set out in the first chapter in that critics generally seek to contain the problem of a republican Satan and a very monarchic God.1 One approach is to assume, as Coleridge does, that there is nothing political about the poem at all, that Milton retreated entirely from the dust and heat of earthly strife to the eternal verities of faith:2 In [Milton’s] mind itself there were purity and piety absolute; an imagination to which neither the past nor the present were interesting, except as far as they called forth and enlivened the great ideal in which and for which he lived … He was, as every truly great poet has ever been, a good man, but finding it impossible to realize his own aspirations, either in religion, or politics, or society, he gave up his heart to the living spirit and light within him, and avenged himself on the world by enriching it with this record of his own transcendent ideal.
City-Wide Application of the Affordable and Rapid StreetScan Pavement-Management System

AbstractThe StreetScan pavement-management system (PMS) is introduced. It empowers cities to make more cost-effective road repair decisions. At the heart of the system is a vehicle outfitted with a patented, multimodal sensor array that rapidly collects data for every street in the city. A combination of sensor-specific algorithms and multisensor data fusion are applied to convert the raw data into more actionable condition indices. Decision trees and mathematical models are then applied to determine what repairs are needed and how to prioritize them in the most cost effective manner. Users are able to visualize and interact with the repair suggestions and condition indices through an innovative web-based geographic information system (GIS) application. At less than half the cost, the StreetScan PMS is considerably more affordable than conventional PMSs. This paper validates its effectiveness in the real world by taking a look at two recent applications: (1) a city-wide application in Beverly, Massachuset...
AN OVERLOOKED IDENTITY IN NUMBER THEORY

Number Theory, along with geometry, is the oldest mathematical discipline. Today it is understood as discovering and studying properties of integers in various forms as they appear in nature and mathematics. Among oldest topics considered in Number Theory are squares of numbers, as well as sums and differences of squares of numbers in relation to geometric shapes. The oldest known written work, the clay tablet cataloged as Plimpton 322, dated 1800 BC, has been found in Larsa, Mesopotamia. In the interpretation of the work (e.g. [1]) it has been pointed out that sum of squares and difference of squares are connected as Pythagorean triplets
Graduate Students “Show Their Work”: Metalanguage in Dissertation Methodology Sections

To address graduate writing pedagogy in technical communication, this article reports on a study of 14 award-winning dissertations in the field. By treating dissertations as cultural artifacts cons...
Performance on Interdisciplinary Topics in an Integrated Pharmacy Course

Objectives: Many colleges and schools of Pharmacy combine interdisciplinary topics such as pathophysiology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and therapeutics into one integrated course. Our main aim for this study is to determine if students pass integrated courses and yet fail to pass interdisciplinary sections of those courses. Methods: Two representative integrated sequence courses were evaluated without any study-imposed intervention. Individual student examination scores (~140 students) were evaluated for overall performance as well as for performance on the interdisciplinary topics of pathophysiology/pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and therapeutics. The degree of difficulty of the examination questions, as well as the test item discrimination, were also measured. Results: There were students that passed the course but failed one, or more, of the interdisciplinary topics. Combining data from both courses, medicinal chemistry was the most frequently failed discipline (29 students), followed closely by pharmacology (22 students), and distantly by therapeutics (1 student). The examination questions for medicinal chemistry were not more difficult nor more discriminatory than the questions for the other disciplines. Conclusions: These data indicate that students pass integrated courses, but fail to pass interdisciplinary sections of those courses, especially the pharmaceutical sciences. It is not known if these results are consistent, nor what long-term adverse consequences may result. These results inform curricular and assessment aspects of the pharmacy academy as pertains to establishing the scientific foundation required by the CAPE 2013 Educational Outcomes. Type: Original Research
Spectral-Temporal LED Lighting Modules for Reproducing Daily and Seasonal Solar Circadian Rhythmicities

The daily and seasonal cycles of spectral and intensity content in the sunlight that reaches the earth's surface constitutes a natural pacemaker for activity in the terrestrial biosphere. In humans and most mammals, the evolutionary consequence of this rhythmicity is the existence of a circadian rhythm, which regulates various vital activities such as the production of hormones, mating and feeding times, and sleep according to the solar angle and the characteristics of the daylight. Thus there is a spectral-temporal relationship underpinning the rhythmicity that got built into us over the ~1,000,000 years of evolution but now has to learn to cope with the abrupt changes brought in by electric lighting ~100 years ago, To improve human quality of life and wellness, it is desired to incorporate the principal characteristics of daylight' rhythmicity in lighting. Here we describe a smart LED lighting system capable of reproducing daylight's changes in relative spectral power and circadian content with time-of- day. It achieves high-fidelity reproduction of daylight's spectral and circadian content as a function of time in a compact, relatively inexpensive and novel system that could readily be adapted for production and may offer an additional yet unstudied solutions in areas were lighting as therapy are being developed.
Photon management in supramolecular peptide nanomaterials.

Self-assembling peptides with covalent pi-electron functionality offer new ways to create delocalized conduits within protein-based nanomaterials. My group's recent research is summarized in this regard, detailing foundational self-assembly and photophysical characterizations that validate the electronic couplings existing within the resulting peptidic nanomaterials. Using these initial studies as a benchmark, ongoing studies to create even more complex photonic energy delocalization schemes are presented, spanning excitonic and Forster energy transfer to low-bandgap dopant sites (whereby 46% of the observed photoluminescence could be quenched by the addition of 1 mol% of an energy acceptor), the creation of charge separated states following photoinduced electron transfer that persisted for over a nanosecond, and use of kinetic control to dictate self-sorting (at long time scales, ca. several hours) or intimate coassembly (at short time scales, ca. several seconds) of multiple peptide components. Peptide coassemblies are described that exhibit both directed exciton migration to low-energy sites and follow-up charge separation events, very much in mimicry with relevant photosynthetic processes.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy for adrenal gland metastases: Outcomes and toxicity.

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to report on our institutional experience in the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the treatment of adrenal gland metastases. Specifically, we examined the outcomes and toxicity from this treatment modality on adjacent organs at risk. Methods and Materials Data were retrieved from patients with adrenal metastases who were treated with SBRT between 2008 and 2017. Patients with primary adrenal malignancies were excluded. Toxicities were graded in accordance with the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.03. Time-to-event rates were calculated from the date of SBRT delivery. Results In total, 35 patients with adrenal metastases were identified. Four patients were treated for bilateral disease. The median dose was 40 Gy (range, 20-54 Gy) in 5 fractions (range, 1-6 fractions). The median follow-up time was 37 months (range, 14-451 months) from disease diagnosis and 7 months (range, 1-54 months) from the SBRT start date. With death treated as a competing risk event, the cumulative incidence of local failure was 7.6% at 1 year after SBRT and 19.2% at 3 years. The median overall survival (OS) time was 19 months (95% confidence interval, 8-54 months) and tumor size correlated with survival (P = .0006). Patients with metastases Conclusions SBRT offers excellent local control for the treatment of adrenal gland metastases with very low toxicity rates and no significant short-term impact on renal function.
Activated eosinophils infiltrate MCF-7 breast multicellular tumor spheroids.

BACKGROUND Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that activated eosinophils and eosinophilic cell lines inhibit the in vitro growth of MCF-7 breast tumor cells. We have also shown that IL-4 and IL-5 partially inhibit MCF-7 growth in vitro. In this study MCF-7 multicellular tumor spheroids (MTS) were developed to study the effect of eosinophils and IL-4 on tumor growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Hypo- and hyperdense metrizamide density gradient fractions of eosinophils from peripheral blood of individuals with mild to moderate esoinophilia were co-cultured with 2-day-old MCF-7 MTS in medium containing bacto agar overlay at 37 degrees C. RESULTS Light microscopic analyses revealed the attachment of eosinophil effector cells to the spheroid borders. Moreover, the culture media was greater than 90% devoid of effector cells. At six days post co-culture, very large spheroids were observed in both test and control dishes; however the necrotic cores in the co-cultures were more intense and larger than in the control. When MCF-7 tumor cells (1 x 10(6)) were pretreated with IL-4 at 0.5 ng/ml, there was a dramatic decrease in the number of spheroids formed. CONCLUSION These data strongly indicate that cytokines like IL-4 and perhaps other eosinophil mediators are capable of killing and inhibiting tumor growth; they suggest that tumor infiltrating eosinophils can degranulate and release toxic inhibitory factors into the tumor milieu which destroy the surrounding tumor. These observations, along with the use of the eosinophil: MTS tumor model provide a unique model system for in depth studies of the role of eosinophils and the cytokines they produce in breast cancer and may offer potential therapeutic implications.
Continuum Mechanics in the Earth Sciences

Continuum mechanics underlies many geological and geophysical phenomena, from earthquakes and faults to the fluid dynamics of the Earth. This interdisciplinary book provides geoscientists, physicists and applied mathematicians with a class-tested, accessible overview of continuum mechanics. Starting from thermodynamic principles and geometrical insights, the book surveys solid, fluid and gas dynamics. In later review chapters, it explores new aspects of the field emerging from nonlinearity and dynamical complexity and provides a brief introduction to computational modeling. Simple, yet rigorous, derivations are used to review the essential mathematics. The author emphasizes the full three-dimensional geometries of real-world examples, enabling students to apply this in deconstructing solid earth and planet-related problems. Problem sets and worked examples are provided, making this a practical resource for graduate students in geophysics, planetary physics and geology and a beneficial tool for professional scientists seeking a better understanding of the mathematics and physics within Earth sciences.
Social Justice, Charity and Tax Evasion: A Critical Inquiry

Through many conversations, in several countries, multiple states, and on at least two continents, Joseph Boyle has with great generosity and philosophical clarity taught me natural law theory. It is an honor to contribute to this volume. More importantly, the opportunity to grapple with his arguments is always rewarding. His defense of the new natural law theory is inevitably forceful and often almost convincing.
Exploring the Predictors of Micro-Breaks and the Role of the Quality of Micro-Breaks

The concept of micro-breaks (i.e., short and informal breaks employees take in the workplace) has received increasing attention from occupational health researchers in recent years. However, resear...
Disasters and Communitarianism

There has not been a sustained application of communitarian ethical theory to the topic of disasters, as far as I am aware. While there is an occasional reference to communitarian ethics in disaster management discussions, this does not amount to a philosophical treatment of either the contribution that communitarian ethics might make to the complex moral problem of disasters, nor does it amount to an examination of its philosophical difficulties and weaknesses. The aim of this chapter is to take a step towards filling this gap in the literature.
Combined targeted therapy and immunotherapy in melanoma: a review of the impact on the tumor microenvironment and outcomes of early clinical trials:

The development of BRAF and MEK inhibitors (BRAFis and MEKis) and immune checkpoint inhibitors have changed the management of advanced stage melanoma and improved the outcomes of patients with this malignancy. However, both therapeutic approaches have limitations, including a limited duration of benefit in subsets of BRAF-mutant melanoma patients treated with targeted therapy and a lower overall response rate without a clear predictive biomarker in patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Preclinical and translational data have shown that BRAFis and MEKis alter the tumor microenvironment to make it more amenable to immunotherapy and have provided the scientific rationale for combing BRAFis and MEKis with immunotherapy. In this review, the initial studies demonstrating the impact of BRAFis and MEKis on the expression of melanoma differentiation antigens, T-cell infiltration, and the balance of immune stimulatory and immune suppressive cells and cytokines are addressed. Preclinical work on the combination of targeted therapy with BRAFis and MEKis with immunotherapy are reviewed, highlighting improved tumor responses in mouse models of BRAF-mutated melanoma treated with combinatorial strategies. Lastly, data from early clinical trials of combined targeted therapy and immunotherapy are discussed, focusing on response rates and toxicities.
Distributed Tensor Decomposition for Large Scale Health Analytics

In the past few decades, there has been rapid growth in quantity and variety of healthcare data. These large sets of data are usually high dimensional (e.g. patients, their diagnoses, and medications to treat their diagnoses) and cannot be adequately represented as matrices. Thus, many existing algorithms can not analyze them. To accommodate these high dimensional data, tensor factorization, which can be viewed as a higher-order extension of methods like PCA, has attracted much attention and emerged as a promising solution. However, tensor factorization is a computationally expensive task, and existing methods developed to factor large tensors are not flexible enough for real-world situations. To address this scaling problem more efficiently, we introduce SGranite, a distributed, scalable, and sparse tensor factorization method fit through stochastic gradient descent. SGranite offers three contributions: (1) Scalability: it employs a block partitioning and parallel processing design and thus scales to large tensors, (2) Accuracy: we show that our method can achieve results faster without sacrificing the quality of the tensor decomposition, and (3) FlexibleConstraints: we show our approach can encompass various kinds of constraints including l2 norm, l1 norm, and logistic regularization. We demonstrate SGranite's capabilities in two real-world use cases. In the first, we use Google searches for flu-like symptoms to characterize and predict influenza patterns. In the second, we use SGranite to extract clinically interesting sets (i.e., phenotypes) of patients from electronic health records. Through these case studies, we show SGranite has the potential to be used to rapidly characterize, predict, and manage a large multimodal datasets, thereby promising a novel, data-driven solution that can benefit very large segments of the population.
The FTO Gene and Measured Food Intake in 5‐ to 10‐Year‐Old Children Without Obesity

OBJECTIVE Genetic variation in the first intron of FTO (e.g., single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] rs9939609) is strongly associated with adiposity. This effect is thought to be mediated (at least in part) via increasing caloric intake, although the precise molecular genetic mechanisms are not fully understood. Prior pediatric studies of FTO have included youth with overweight and obesity; however, they have not informed whether a genotypic effect on ingestive behavior is present prior to obesity onset. Therefore, this study investigated the association between FTO and caloric intake in children aged 5 to 10 years without obesity (adiposity ≤ 95th percentile). METHODS A total of 122 children were genotyped for rs9939609 and ate ad libitum from a laboratory lunch buffet following a standardized breakfast. Linear regressions, adjusting for body mass, were used to examine the association between FTO "dose" (number of copies of SNP rs9939609) and intake variables. RESULTS There was a significant association between FTO and total intake. Each risk allele predicted an additional 64 calories, accounting for 3% of the variance. There were no associations between FTO and macronutrient preference, energy density, or diet variety. Results were influenced by race. CONCLUSIONS Results corroborate and extend prior work by showing a dose-dependent effect on food intake in children without obesity.
Influence of one-step and two-step KOH activation on activated carbon characteristics

Abstract This study investigated the influence of one-step and two-step KOH activation on the characteristics of activated carbons. The biomass precursors [Kanlow Switchgrass (KS) and Public Miscanthus (PM)] and their biochars produced at pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C, were impregnated with KOH and activated at a temperature 900 °C for 30 min in an inert condition. BET surface area, pore characteristics, surface functional groups and microstructures of the activated carbons were examined. The biomass-derived activated carbons (KOH-KSBM and KOH-PMBM) had the highest BET surface areas of 1272 and 1597 m2/g respectively. The activated carbons were used in adsorbing acetaminophen and caffeine and the biomass-derived activated carbons presented an overall better adsorption characteristic.
Sustainable intensification of quinoa production in peri-urban environments in western Washington state utilizing transplant vs. direct-seed methods

As a developing alternative crop in both urban and rural environments in the Pacific Northwest, quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is predominantly sown using direct-seeding technology on small- to large-scale farms. However, the utilization of transplant methodology could allow for earlier planting dates, improved weed control, and quicker maturation. Many urban farmers and gardeners are experienced and equipped to utilize transplant technology and would potentially be quick to adopt this practice. Following a pilot study in 2015, an experiment was conducted in 2016 that compared transplanting and direct-seeding on two farms in the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington state. With transplant and direct-seed treatments at each location, three quinoa varieties were planted at early, mid, and late planting dates. Here, we report that transplanted quinoa possessed higher survival rates, was quicker to reach later developmental stages, and produced higher yields than direct-seeded quinoa. Transplants were more branched and shorter than direct-seeded quinoa plants; however, they also experienced higher rates of lodging. As the planting dates progressed, lodging decreased, and seed yields increased in the transplanted quinoa across all three varieties compared to the direct-seeded quinoa. The utilization of transplants could provide quinoa growers in urban and peri-urban settings with an improved production method.
Non-oncologist physician knowledge of radiation therapy at an urban community hospital.

10534Background: Appropriate referral for radiation therapy (RT) is crucial for cancer care. Previous work suggests that many non-radiation oncologists who care for cancer patients are uncomfortabl...
Effects of dietary supplement sources on the rate and extent of in vitro ruminal degradation of alfalfa-based diets for cattle

Two ruminally cannulated steers [928 ± 25.5 kg body weight (BW)] were fed alfalfa hay at 2.0% of BW and served as donors of rumen fluid. Treatments were early-bud alfalfa (CON) or a combination [dr...
Bipolar Fresh Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation and Joint Reconstruction for Patellar and Trochlear Cartilage Defects

Patellar instability is a debilitating condition, and trauma due to the dislocations may severely damage the articular cartilage of the patellofemoral joint. The lack of healing capacity of cartilage makes treatment of such lesions challenging. In young patients, preservation of native bone and cartilage is a priority, and therefore arthroplasty procedures should be avoided even in relatively larger lesions. Fresh osteochondral allografting has been described for these difficult and complex cases, with recent studies showing promising results. In this surgical technique, we describe the use of bipolar osteochondral allografts of the patella and trochlea and patellofemoral joint reconstruction for large bipolar full-thickness cartilage defects due to recurrent dislocation events.
Shift Work Sleep Disorder

Shift work disorder (SWD) is a circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder characterized by insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness with a shortened total sleep time that occurs due to a recurring work schedule that overlaps with one’s habitual sleep period. Approximately 10–20% of the workforce of industrialized nations participates in shift work. SWD may occur in up to one-third of shift workers with higher rates in night shift workers. Circadian disruption in shift workers has been associated with increased rates of numerous adverse health consequences, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, breast cancer, and gastrointestinal ulcers; these health problems may be most common in shift workers with SWD. In addition to adverse health consequences, shift workers with SWD may suffer from work-related injuries and accidents, occupational dysfunction, and social dysfunction. These potential negative consequences of shift work necessitate that clinicians maintain a high index of suspicion for the presence of SWD in shift workers, especially night shift workers. Once identified, SWD must be treated, and the definitive treatment is termination of the inciting shift work. If a shift change is not possible, a patient with SWD may benefit from prescribed sleep scheduling, circadian phase shifting interventions (such as timed melatonin or bright light therapy), hypnotic (sleep-promoting) medications, and/or stimulant (wake-promoting) medications. All shift workers should be educated about the possible negative effects of circadian misalignment, including the development of SWD. The care of shift workers with and without SWD is a global priority, requiring thoughtful cooperation between shift workers, employers, and healthcare providers.
Pixel Level Demonstration of Phase Change Material Based Spatial Light Modulation

We present an advancement towards high speed (sub μs) phase change material based spatial light modulators by electrically addressing single pixels with high-speed optical monitoring at 1550nm light.
Continuous Infusion Low-Dose Unfractionated Heparin for the Management of Hypercoagulability Associated With COVID-19

Introduction:The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with severe hypercoagulability. There is currently limited evidence supporting the routine use of therapeutic anticoagulation in t...
Using Generative Adversarial Networks to Generate Ultrasonic Signals

Advances in Deep Learning technologies enable Data Driven Modeling as an alternative to classical simulation methods in many application fields. In this work, we are proposing a Deep Learning based Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to achieve Data Driven Modeling for synthesizing ultrasonic data that can be used in Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) applications. GAN uses generator and discriminator networks which are trained to learn patterns and generate B-scans. Preliminary results show close match between the synthesized and real data, highlighting its potential use in NDE simulations.
Influence of stereotactic imaging on operative time in deep brain stimulation.

Background Various techniques are used across institutions for implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) leads. The most used techniques for each step include preoperative MRI fused to in-frame CT, intraoperative fluoroscopy, and postoperative CT, but postimplantation MRI also is used, as it was at our center. We present the quality assurance study performed at our institution after a change from postimplantation MRI performed across the hospital to postimplantation in room CT. Methods Retrospective chart review of 123 patients who underwent bilateral DBS leads placement without same-day generator placement that was performed. The patients were divided by the type of postoperative imaging that was obtained. Patients were excluded if a unilateral lead placement was performed, if the case was a revision of an existing lead or deviated from the normal protocol. Operative room times and procedure times for each group were analyzed with Wilcoxon rank sums test (WRST) to determine any significant differences between groups. Results Postoperative MRI was performed for 82 patients, while postoperative CT was performed for 41 patients. A WRST showed a significant reduction in both operative room time (209 min to 170 min, P < 0.0001) and procedure time (140 min to 126 min, P = 0.0019). Conclusion In-room CT allowed for a significant reduction in operative room time. Lower operative room time has been associated with increased patient comfort, and decreased cost. CT did not alter the revision rate for procedures. The significant reduction in procedure time may be attributed to increased team familiarity with procedure over time.
Impacts of mechanical and chemical factors on the water-holding capacity of polyacrylamide in sand: models and mechanisms

Owing to its significant capacity to conserve water in soils, polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogels have been applied extensively in croplands to combat droughts. However, the influences of different mechanical and chemical factors of sand on its swelling capacity is still unclear. The objective of this study is to reveal the relationships between swelling profile of PAM in sand and sand mechanical and chemical properties, using an originally designed laboratory-scaled column apparatus. Different water management strategies and sand properties, including water infiltration rates (0.6, 1.4, 1.9, and 2.5 m day–1), application depth (5.5, 11.0, and 16.5 cm), solution pH (5.0, 6.9 and 9.0), and ionic strengths (0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 M) were investigated in the present study. Chemical properties of sand medium (i.e. ionic strengths and pH conditions) reduced up to 70% of water holding capacity. Vertical stress limited water holding capacity to 50–60% of the maximum value, demonstrating that its effect has been underestimated in the past. Infiltration rate influenced the swelling profile but not the maximum water holding capacity. Results were fitted with the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, Gallagher-Corrigan model and First-Order model to derive parameters that highlight the impacts of the sand properties. Through model simulation, swelling behaviour was well explained with rapid swelling followed by further release in swelling. The discoveries in this study demonstrate the important roles of mechanical and chemical factors during the water absorption process of agricultural hydrogels.
Outcome comparison of patients who develop leptomeningeal disease or distant brain recurrence after brain metastases resection cavity radiosurgery.

Background To compare the outcomes between patients with leptomeningeal disease (LMD) and distant brain recurrence (DBR) after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) brain metastases (BM) resection cavity. Methods Twenty-nine patients having single-fraction SRS after BM resection who developed either LMD (n = 11) or DBR (n = 18) as their initial and only site of intracranial progression were retrospectively reviewed. Results Patients developing LMD more commonly had a metachronous presentation (91% vs 50%, P = .04) and recursive partitioning class 1 status (45% vs 6%, P = .02). There was no difference in the median time from SRS to the development of LMD or DBR (5.0 vs 3.8 months, P = .68). The majority of patients with LMD (10/11, 91%) developed the nodular variant (nLMD). Treatment for LMD was repeat SRS (n = 4), whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT; n = 5), resection + WBRT (n = 1), and no treatment (n = 1). Treatment for DBR was repeat SRS (n = 9), WBRT (n = 3), resection + resection cavity SRS (n = 1), and no treatment (n = 5). Median overall survival (OS) from time of resection cavity SRS was 15.7 months in the LMD group and 12.7 months in the DBR group (P = .60), respectively. Median OS in salvage SRS and salvage WBRT were 25.4 and 5.0 months in the nLMD group (P = .004) while 18.7 and 16.2 months in the DBR group (P = .30), respectively. Conclusions Following BM resection cavity SRS, nLMD recurrence is much more frequent than classical LMD. Salvage SRS may be considered for selected patients with nLMD, reserving salvage WBRT for patients with extensive intracranial disease without compromising survival. Further study with larger numbers of patients is needed.
Evaluation of control-oriented flame propagation models for production control of a spark-assisted compression ignition engine:

The drive to improve internal combustion engines has led to efficiency objectives that exceed the capability of conventional combustion strategies. As a result, advanced combustion modes are more a...
An 800V/300 kW, 44 kW/L Air-Cooled SiC Power Electronics Building Block (PEBB)

A compact 300 kW air-cooled SiC power electronics building block (PEBB) that integrates discrete SiC power switches, advanced gate drivers, low inductance loop design, DC link capacitors, and forced air cooling heatsink is developed. This paper discusses the design consideration of the PEBB focusing on device selection and efficiency. A high-speed gate driver is designed to drive paralleled SiC devices. Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) thermal management is implemented and the junction to ambient thermal resistance for each SiC switch is experimentally extracted to be less than 1oC/W with forced air. PEBB power density of 43.9kW/L is achieved. The PEBB is tested in inverter mode and demonstrated an efficiency of 99.4% at 40 kW.
Predicting changes in yield and water use in the production of corn in the United States under climate change scenarios

Abstract Changes in climate will have significant implications for agricultural production in the United States. Increased temperatures, as well as altered hydrologic cycles, will result in changes to corn production, a major food staple in the United States. The objective of this study was to use the CERES-Maize model to evaluate potential changes in corn yield and water use under 2050 climate scenarios in the USDA-Economic Research Service (ERS) Heartland Region of the United States. CERES-Maize was used to simulate corn physiology and yields using weather data for three future climate scenarios generated by the ECHAM5 climate change models. The projected physiology and yield results were then compared to baseline conditions from the years 1997 through 2007. Throughout all future climate scenarios the number of days to corn silking and maturity were decreased under both rainfed and irrigated scenarios. Overall, the CERES-Maize model predicted increased total yields for the ERS-Heartland Region. However, large regional variability was observed throughout the Heartland Region, with yield simulations for the eastern production areas, including Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri, as well as southern Minnesota resulting in predicted declines in corn yields.
Wizerunek osobowościowy współczesnego menedżera w przedsiębiorstwie

To succeed in a global and integrated economy, various organizations  especially in business  need the efficient management and be able to cooperate with a lot of institutions; alsothey need to fulfill expectation of their partners and customers as well as carefully study theactivities of their competitors. Additional complication and difficulties for the company management result from continuous changes in above conditions and expectations that sometimes areeven contradicted. Requirements for the modern managers are multidimensional and strict. Sothe article emphasizes a typology of managers and their personal attributes. These attributes aswell as a knowledge and skills and an intellectual mastery show whether manager is able tocommunicate with people and properly react  all of these traits fundamentally affect companysuccess. If you look for competent and efficient manager long questionnaires with variouspersonal and managerial attributes are not enough; also high ethical level is essential. Onlythese managers reach real success who besides having the knowledge, the skills, the courage,and the experience they are also honest and solid; and respected moral values direct their works.
Overview of high performance aircraft propulsion research

The overall scope of the NASA Lewis High Performance Aircraft Propulsion Research Program is presented. High performance fighter aircraft of interest include supersonic flights with such capabilities as short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) and/or high maneuverability. The NASA Lewis effort involving STOVL propulsion systems is focused primarily on component-level experimental and analytical research. The high-maneuverability portion of this effort, called the High Alpha Technology Program (HATP), is part of a cooperative program among NASA's Lewis, Langley, Ames, and Dryden facilities. The overall objective of the NASA Inlet Experiments portion of the HATP, which NASA Lewis leads, is to develop and enhance inlet technology that will ensure high performance and stability of the propulsion system during aircraft maneuvers at high angles of attack. To accomplish this objective, both wind-tunnel and flight experiments are used to obtain steady-state and dynamic data, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes are used for analyses. This overview of the High Performance Aircraft Propulsion Research Program includes a sampling of the results obtained thus far and plans for the future.
The Effect of a Finite Hub on the Optimum Propeller

Goldstein's analysis of a propeller satisfying the Betz condition is extended to the case where the hub radius is appreciable relative to the propeller radius. The solution, which satisfies the boundary conditions of an infinitely long cylinder representing the hub, is expressed as an infinite series of modified Bessel functions. I t is shown that to a close approximation the differences between the present case and that with a zero hub radius can be calculated without too much difficulty. Examples are presented which show that for a trailing vortex sheet of given pitch, the insertion of a hub increases the value of the bound circulation of the line vortex generating the sheet. This change is more pronounced the smaller the number of blades.
SA FAMILY PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: What Motivates Staff?

Good wages and pleasant working conditions are important, but true motivation stems from something deeper. Reprinted with permission from the 2004 Nov/Dec issue of Family Practice Management, FPM 2004;11(11):54-55 Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians. All rights reserved. Permission from the AAFP was granted to publish this article in the hardcopy only. Kindly refer to www.aafp.org or subscribe to the hardcopy of South African Family Practice.
Evaluation of Nuclear Outline with Fractal Morphometry to Differentiate Skin Tumors

Nuclear details are sufficient to differentiate tumors of many types as evidenced by the widespread and successful use of cytology. While cytology examinations are generally optimized to identify the nuclear and morphological characteristics of cell preparations and aspirates, tissue samples are optimized to emphasize the cellular details. Recent studies have validated fractal morphometry for nuclear analysis in cytology. We evaluated the use of nuclear detail analysis employing fractal morphometric analysis in cutaneous tumors to differentiate common and uncommon skin tumors.