cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Discrete survival model analysis of a couple’s smoking pattern and outcomes of assisted reproduction

Cigarette smoking has been associated with worse infertility treatment outcomes, yet some studies have found null or inconsistent results. We followed 225 couples who underwent 354 fresh non-donor assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles between 2006 and 2014. Smoking history was self-reported at study entry. We evaluated the associations between smoking patterns and ART success using multivariable discrete time Cox proportional hazards models with six time periods: cycle initiation to egg retrieval, retrieval to fertilization, fertilization to embryo transfer (ET), ET to implantation, implantation to clinical pregnancy, and clinical pregnancy to live birth to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CIs. Time-dependent interactions between smoking intensity and ART time period were used to identify vulnerable periods. Overall, 26% of women and 32% of men reported ever smoking. The HR of failing in the ART cycle without attaining live birth for male and female ever smokers was elevated, but non-significant, compared to never smokers regardless of intensity (HR = 1.02 and 1.30, respectively). Female ever smokers were more likely to fail prior to oocyte retrieval (HR: 3.37; 95% CI: 1.00, 12.73). Every one cigarette/day increase in smoking intensity for females was associated with a HR of 1.02 of failing ART (95% CI: 0.97, 1.08), regardless of duration or current smoking status. Women with higher smoking intensities were most likely to fail a cycle prior to oocyte retrieval (HR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.16). Among past smokers, every additional year since a man had quit smoking reduced the risk of failing ART by 4% (HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.91, 1.00) particularly between clinical pregnancy and live birth (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.96). Female smoking intensity, regardless of current smoking status, is positively associated with the risk of failing ART cycles between initiation and oocyte retrieval. In men who ever smoked, smoking cessation may reduce the probability of failing ART, particularly between clinical pregnancy and live birth. NCT00011713 . Registered: 27 February 2001.
A Multifactorial Analysis of Ebola Virus Glycoprotein Receptor BindingDomain

An analysis of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the ZEBOV-Makona glycoprotein is presented, based upon the following four factors: information entropy (H), protein conformation, thermal imprint (B factor) and predicted epitope activity (Bepipred Score). It was found that the position of maximum information entropy (Hmax) was located within a helical pentapeptide component of a 31-mer peptide in which H=0 at each amino acid except at the amino acid position where H=Hmax. It is proposed that identification of these RBD peptide components and characteristics can help facilitate efficient design of an anti-Ebola vaccine.
Controllability of Aerospace Static Mechanical Loading Coupled with Dynamic Forces

The objective of this testing activity was to examine and verify the interactions of a hydraulic mechanical load control system loading a thin skinned aerospace structure coupled with applied acoustic vibrations. The goal was to be able to actively control the load of four hydraulic cylinders loading two end plates while an electrodynamic shaker attached to the skin imposed simulated acoustic loading. The objective was to achieve mechanical load control within ±1% of desired static load for each load control channel. The mechanical loads applied ranged from the noise floor to Design Limit Load (DLL) (2000 lbf) using varying ramp rates in conjunction with the random dynamic vibration. The presence of dynamic load introduced an error of 0.4% DLL with traditional PID tuning methods. The testing also quantified the suitability of 2 channel master/slave control vs. 4 channel individual control. It was determined that using a dedicated servo control channel (non-slaved servo channel) per load cylinder drops the maximum difference to 2.2% of full scale applied load (25% DLL), as opposed to 7.8% of full scale applied load (25% DLL) when the top two load cylinders are slaved to one servo and the bottom two load cylinders are slaved to another. This amounted to a 72% reduction in error using non-slaved servos. The test activity’s technical approach and test data will be presented.
Grand Jury Discretion and Constitutional Design

The grand jury possesses an unqualified power to decline to indict - despite probable cause that alleged criminal conduct has occurred. A grand jury might exercise this power, for example, to disagree with the wisdom of a criminal law or its application to a particular defendant. A grand jury might also use its discretionary power to send a message of disapproval regarding biased or unwise prosecutorial decisions or inefficient allocation of law enforcement resources in the community. This ability to exercise discretion on bases beyond the sufficiency of the evidence has been characterized pejoratively as grand jury nullification. The dominant substantive critiques of grand jury nullification attack the grand jury's discretion in this regard as bad criminal justice policy at best and subversive of the rule of law at worst. Any acknowledgement of the grand jury's discretionary power often is accompanied by concerns regarding the damage that critics perceive it to levy upon the criminal process. This Article argues that such concerns largely are unfounded and derive from a fundamental misunderstanding of the scope of the grand jury's discretion and its function in the constitutional structure. The Article defends grand jury discretion against the critique that it is necessarily inconsistent with the rule of law. It contends instead that grand jury discretion actually buttresses the rule of law by facilitating the grand jury's structural role in the constitutional design as a check on the three branches of government and as a moderator of criminal law federalism. In addition, the Article maps the spectrum of discretion that is exercised by various actors throughout the criminal process and argues that the grand jury's discretionary power represents an appropriate, if not optimal, allocation of that discretion. Finally, the Article argues that grand jury discretion is desirable because it can enhance the administration of criminal justice - not only from an individual rights perspective but also from crime control and efficiency perspectives.
Attribution and Insomnia: A Replication Failure

We attempted to replicate the negative placebo effect described by Storms and Nisbett (1970), whereby placebos described as arousal pills or relaxing pills resulted in reports of decreased or increased sleep onset latencies, respectively. Design improvements included lengthening both assessment and “treatment” periods and balancing instructions for both groups. Our negative results, consistent with other recent replication failures, suggest the need for caution in the clinical application of attribution theory.
Changes in Responses to Drugs Acting on Beta Receptors in Aging

Although the elderly are the principle consumers of therapeutic agents, most of the studies which examine drug efficacy are carried out in young, healthy, usually male, volunteers. Because of both their increasing demographic importance and the frequency with which they receive drugs it is of importance in the future to define the changes which occur in drug response in elderly patients.
Remote RF Testing Using Software Defined Radio

A virtual radio frequency test environment is described using an FGPA with dual core ARM processors to implement transmitter and receiver chains in the digital domain and a single chip RF agile transceiver. These components are commercially available on development boards with software and firmware to provide the interface. A driver amplifier and a power amplifier are evaluated in the test set for linearization experiments.
Nuclear politics in the Mediterranean: Prospects and pitfalls of nuclear weapons programs in Middle Eastern states

Through a resolution in the 1974 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Egypt, in coordination with Iran, first proposed the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East,...
Carcinoma of the Rete Testis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

AbstractThe literature suggests that carcinoma of the rete testis is a rare neoplasm of unknown etiology that arises in the mediastinum testis and may grow slowly for months before clinical detection. Diagnosis is often confounded by symptoms suggesting inflammation in middle aged and older men presenting with diffuse enlargement rather than discrete testicular nodules. Pathological features are those of an adenocarcinoma but are not sufficiently distinctive to identify the rete testis as the site of origin. Many patients die of the disease soon after diagnosis despite local resection with or without adjuvant therapy. Long-term survival has been observed in at least 2 cases and more than 40% of the patients were alive without disease when reported in the literature. Much of the available information is incomplete, however, and firm conclusions regarding the nature of this cancer must await more solid data.
The Costs and Benefits of Organizing a Multi-institutional Simulation on the European Union

While much research has been conducted on the use of political simulations and other active learning experiences in the classroom environment, there has been little scholarship about multi-institutional simulations such as Model UN and Model EU. This chapter examines the organization and learning outcomes of one such simulation, the 25-year-old Mid-Atlantic Model EU (MEUSC). The complexity of the MEUSC simulation and the logistical issues related to convening several institutions in Washington, D.C. each year require a strong commitment from the participating faculty. Yet, the MEUSC organizers believe that the benefits of the simulation more than outweigh the costs. Prior assessments of the simulation outcomes, including a pre-/post-survey instrument launched in 2015, offer some support for this belief. These assessments suggest that students learn as much or more about the EU than they would from a traditional lecture environment. Perhaps more importantly, participating in the simulation appears to engender greater interest in the EU. The faculty organizers remain engaged in ongoing efforts to assess the effects of multi-institutional simulations.
Concurrent High Performance Processor Design: From Logic to PD in Parallel

The design of a high-performance processor in an advanced technology node is a highly concurrent process. While most SoCs are designed with (fairly) stable IP, several trends are driving the design of the micro-architecture, the logic and the physical design of high-performance micro-processors to be an increasingly parallel process. Due to the slowdown of technology progress, a lot more innovation is coming from the micro-architecture. Fast evolving workloads lead to frequent additions of accelerators and instructions. Late security findings drive last minute updates. All these have a significant impact on the logic structure of the design and therefore implications to an efficient physical design. On top of that, when designing in an advanced technology, the technology and its design rules are evolving at the same time. High-performance designs have many memories, register files and caches which are especially susceptible to sometimes small technology rule changes. Even a minimal design rule change can percolate up and have a substantial impact on the floorplan. Fortunately, designers have an unprecedented amount of compute power available to them to conquer the challenges outline above and drive a massive concurrent design process. Especially design teams that harness the vast amount of data coming from the concurrent process can efficiently get to their design goals on time.
Septic Pulmonary Emboli From Peripheral Suppurative Thrombophlebitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Background:We report the case of a 90-year old woman who presented with septic pulmonary emboli due to suppurative thrombophlebitis at an old peripheral intravenous site.Methods:After unsuccessful ...
Telemetry of Heart Rate as a Measure of the Effectiveness of Dispersal Inducing Stimuli in Seagulls

Abstract Seagulls on and around airport runways represent a significant hazard. Several procedures have been developed to disperse the aggregated gulls. Research supported by the U.S. Air Force Bird Air Strike Hazard (BASH) program has been conducted to develop new dispersal procedures and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of alternative techniques. Ten ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) have been maintained in the laboratory. An FM transmitter has been developed that is crystal controlled and transmits heart rate over at least a 0.4 km range using a low cost high fidelity tuner as the receiver. The unpotted weight of the transmitter, minus batteries is 12 g and 25–30 g when ready for operation. Recordings of the FM modulated ECG were made on magnetic tape. The demodulated ECG was evaluated using a PDP 8E computer. Prerecorded distress calls, pyrotechnics and models of dead seagulls were compared with respect to their effectiveness on elevating the heart rate of a gull and keeping it elevated. The models proved most effective in maintaining heart rates over relatively long periods of time. The effect of the models on a gull's heart rate correlates well with simultaneous observations of the gull's behavior, and with field experiments and observations on the effectiveness of models on dispersal, as compared with distress calls and/or pyrotechnics.
Longitudinal Genotype–Phenotype Association Study through Temporal Structure Auto-Learning Predictive Model

With rapid progress in high-throughput genotyping and neuroimaging, imaging genetics has gained significant attention in the research of complex brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The genotype-phenotype association study using imaging genetic data has the potential to reveal genetic basis and biological mechanism of brain structure and function. AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, thus, it is crucial to look into the relations between SNPs and longitudinal variations of neuroimaging phenotypes. Although some machine learning models were newly presented to capture the longitudinal patterns in genotype-phenotype association study, most of them required fixed longitudinal structures of prediction tasks and could not automatically learn the interrelations among longitudinal prediction tasks. To address this challenge, we proposed a novel temporal structure auto-learning model to automatically uncover longitudinal genotype-phenotype interrelations and utilized such interrelated structures to enhance phenotype prediction in the meantime. We conducted longitudinal phenotype prediction experiments on the ADNI cohort including 3,123 SNPs and two types of imaging markers, VBM and FreeSurfer. Empirical results demonstrated advantages of our proposed model over the counterparts. Moreover, available literature was identified for our top selected SNPs, which demonstrated the rationality of our prediction results. An executable program is available online at https://github.com/littleq1991/sparse_lowRank_regression.
Nucleoside triphosphate cosubstrates control the substrate profile and efficiency of aminoglycoside 3′-O-phosphotransferase type IIa

Aminoglycosides (AGs) are broad-spectrum antibiotics that play an important role in the control and treatment of bacterial infections. Despite the great antibacterial potency of AGs, resistance to these antibiotics has limited their clinical applications. The AG 3'-O-phosphotransferase of type IIa (APH(3')-IIa) encoded by the neoR gene is a common bacterial AG resistance enzyme that inactivates AG antibiotics. This enzyme is used as a selection marker in molecular biology research. APH(3')-IIa catalyzes the transfer of the γ-phosphoryl group of ATP to an AG at its 3'-OH group. Although APH(3')-IIa has been reported to utilize exclusively ATP as a cosubstrate, we demonstrate that this enzyme can utilize a broad array of NTPs. By substrate profiling, TLC, and enzyme kinetics experiments, we probe AG phosphorylation by APH(3')-IIa with an extensive panel of substrates and cosubstrates (13 AGs and 10 NTPs) for the purpose of gaining a thorough understanding of this resistance enzyme. We find, for the first time, that the identity of the NTP cosubstrate dictates the set of AGs modified by APH(3')-IIa and the phosphorylation efficiency for different AGs.
SAscha: A RIA Approach for Supporting Semantic Web Services in the Italian Interoperability Framework.

SPCoop is a nationwide framework for supporting service interoperability in the exercise and application of Italian government policies. The very core of this framework lies in the use of Semantic Web Services as a means to execute even complex administrative processes in a semi-automatic way, hence the need for added semantic value in the definition of such services. Because each participant is responsible for both authoring its domain knowledge representation and defining the services provided, and these tasks may be performed at different times by different individuals who may or may not belong to the same domain, the problem of heterogeneous individual knowledgeability arises. Also, the set of standards that were adopted in SPCoop includes specifications that have since been replaced by newer versions and show little coverage by existing implementations. SAscha is a Web tool intended to address such issues, offering an essentially simple WYSIWYM approach to annotating Web Service descriptors with SAWSDL references to concepts within domain ontologies which are stored in an ad-hoc repository. SAscha is provided as a Rich Internet Application (RIA) so as to be deployed as an infrastructural service itself for immediate use, without any need to resort to potentially complex client applications.
Burkitt Lymphoma and Other High-Grade B-Cell Lymphomas with or without MYC, BCL2, and/or BCL6 Rearrangements

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is highly aggressive and requires very intensive chemotherapy approaches for successful treatment. Although "standard" approaches are tolerated in young patients, this is not the case in older adults, and new approaches that lower toxicity but maintain high curability are needed and are currently in development. Recently, high-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements have been categorized separately from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or BL. These have poor outcomes and many exciting novel approaches are being tested in an attempt to augment curability. These diseases harbor many interesting targets for rational small molecule inhibition in future trials.
Toward detection and characterization of variability bugs in configurable C software: an empirical study

Variability in C software is a useful tool, but critical bugs that only exist in certain configurations are easily missed by conventional debugging techniques. Even with a small number of features, the configuration space of configurable software is too large to analyze exhaustively. Variability-aware static analysis for bug detection is being developed, but remains at too early a stage to be fully usable in real-world C programs. In this work, we present a methodology of finding variability bugs by combining variability-oblivious bug detectors, static analysis of build processes, and dynamic feature interaction inference. We further present an empirical study in which we test our methodology on two highly configurable C programs. We found our methodology to be effective, finding 88 true bugs between the two programs, of which 64 were variability bugs.
Acute Changes in NADPH Oxidase 4 in Early Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis.

Knee injuries cause structural damage and acute inflammation that initiates the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). NADPH oxidase 4 (Nox4), a member of a family of enzymes that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays a pivotal role in normal development of the musculoskeletal system, but may increase ROS production to harmful levels after joint injury. The role of ROS in both normal joint homeostasis and injury is poorly understood, but inhibition of excessive ROS production by Nox4 after joint injury could be protective to the joint, decreasing oxidative stress, and initiation of PTOA. Knee injuries were simulated using inflammatory cytokines in cultured primary human chondrocytes and a non-invasive mouse model of PTOA in C57BL/6N and Nox4 knockout mice. There is an acute decrease in Nox4 activity within 24 h after injury in both systems, followed by a subsequent sustained low-level increase, a novel finding not seen in any other system. Inhibition of Nox4 activity by GKT137831 was protective against early structural changes after non-invasive knee injury in a mouse model. Nox4 knockout mice had significant differences in structural and mechanical properties of bone, providing further evidence for the role of Nox4 in development of joint tissues and biochemical response after joint injury. Nox4 plays a significant role in the acute phase after joint injury, and targeted inhibition of inflammation caused by Nox4 may be protective against early joint changes in the pathogenesis of PTOA. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 37:2429-2436, 2019.
Researching the complex nature of identity and learning: positioning, agency, and context in learners’ identities

Identities are dynamic, constantly shifting processes of self-understanding mediated by local and institutional repertoires, behaviors, resources and enacted through one’s positioning in practice. ...
At, Of, and Beyond the Intersections

The cultural politics of 2019, like those of recent years, have been marked with a number of critical controversies. Whether in the rising swirl of voices saying #MeToo or calling the movement into...
Rehabilitation Intervention for Individuals With Heart Failure and Fatigue to Reduce Fatigue Impact: A Feasibility Study.

Objective To investigate feasibility of recruitment, tablet use in intervention delivery, and use of self-report outcome measures and to analyze the effect of Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy versus Health Education interventions for individuals with heart failure-associated fatigue. Methods This feasibility study was a block-randomized controlled trial involving 23 adults, blinded to their group assignment, in a rural southern area in the United States. Individuals with heart failure and fatigue received the interventions for 6 weeks through videoconferencing or telephone. Participants were taught to solve their fatiguerelated problems using energy conservation strategies and the process of Problem-Solving Therapy or educated about health-related topics. Results The recruitment rate was 23%. All participants completed the study participation according to their group assignment, except for one participant in the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy group. Participants primarily used the tablet (n=21) rather than the phone (n=2). Self-report errors were noted on Activity Card Sort (n=23). Reported fatigue was significantly lower for both the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy (p=0.03, r=0.49) and Health Education (p=0.004, r=0.64) groups. The Health Education group reported significantly lower fatigue impact (p=0.019, r=0.48). Participation was significantly different in low-physical demand leisure activities (p=0.008; r=0.55) favoring the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy group. Conclusion The recruitment and delivery of the interventions were feasible. Activity Card Sort may not be appropriate for this study population due to recall bias. The interventions warrant future research to reduce fatigue and decrease participation in sedentary activities (Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT03820674).
Pediatric macrophage activation syndrome/sepsis-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

It is an important turning point that early diagnosis and prompts initiation of adequate treatment improve the outcomes of primary or secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) which is a rare life-threatening syndrome.Even though the survival rate of the patients with HLH has been improved because of the immunochemotherapy or targeted immunotherapy based on new findings in the immunopathogenesis and the genetic defects,reducing the mortality will be main challenge for the pediatricians in pediatric intensive care unit.All of the clinical features are significant clues for the diagnosis,including continuing fever,specific liver dysfunction with coagulation abnormalities,pancytopenia,hypertriglyceridemia and hyperferritinemia.Defining patients' natural killer cells status during the different stages of sepsis and autoimmune diseases will be guiding innovative immunointerventions. Key words: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; Macrophage activation syndrome; Sepsis; Still' s disease; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Children
Appropriating the Value of Flexibility in PPP Megaproject Design

AbstractPublic–private partnerships afford governments the opportunity to build megaprojects that benefit the public but might be too expensive or risky for either the public or private entity to u...
Building and transforming collective agency and collective identity to address Latinx farmworkers’ needs and challenges in rural Vermont

Immigrant farmworkers from Latin America experience multiple challenges in rural Vermont. A large body of literature has shown the benefits that collective agency can represent for migrant farmworkers in the U.S. food system. These initiatives have mainly focused on the improvement of human and labor conditions by empowering farmworkers. However, little is known about what factors influence the creation and progress of these types of collaborative efforts to address challenges faced by immigrant farmworkers in rural areas. By analyzing work completed by the non-governmental organization, Migrant Justice in Vermont, this article explores why and how collective agency was formed outside the state power to facilitate resources for Latinx farmworkers on dairy farms. Collaborative work led by this non-governmental organization has resulted in multiple efforts and achievements that address immigrant farmworkers’ needs and challenges. Results from this research unveil the complicated role of the state and how specific aspects of collective identity influenced the formation and progress of collective agency. This study aims to enrich the existing literature and/or ongoing initiatives on food movements, food justice, fair food programs, and immigration in the U.S.
‘You are not invisible’: a qualitative study examining ritual, pedagogical relationships, and student visibility in kathak dance

This paper examines how rituals contribute to developing pedagogical relationships among Asian American youth and their teacher in a kathak dance program. The research draws from ethnographic data ...
Multiomic Integration of Public Oncology Databases in Bioconductor.

PURPOSEInvestigations of the molecular basis for the development, progression, and treatment of cancer increasingly use complementary genomic assays to gather multiomic data, but management and ana...
Xylazine sedation and gunshot for depopulation of cattle

A depopulation protocol utilizing intramuscular sedation with xylazine followed by euthanasia via gunshot was evaluated for effectiveness and practicality in a group of 43 feedlot calves in a commercial feedlot setting. Sedation and euthanasia were successful in all 43 calves. The time required to complete the procedure was 46 minutes from the first xylazine injection to the last gunshot. Utilization of this depopulation method demonstrates that cattle in a commercial feedlot can be euthanized in a rapid manner that is practical and efficient, while also maintaining an acceptable level of animal welfare. Expansion to larger herds, including the total population of a large feedlot, may still be challenging. The use of this depopulation method should be considered for future livestock emergencies.
Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Medical Decision-Making Capacity Assessment.

Palliative care (PC) clinicians treat seriously ill patients who are at increased risk for compromised decision-making capacity (DMC). These patients face profound and complex questions about which...
Atheism is the cult of the grave

The Superman was afraid of nature and began to worship. In its aftermath, the warrior who guarded the tribal society was worshiped as a deity. In the course of time, heroic worship became a planting ceremony. Later, idolatry took root because of racism. However, the purpose of this study is to show that the Nadukars, which were celebrated by the ancient Tamils, are still worshiped as idols.
Bridge or barrier: technology, well-being, and blindness.

PURPOSE OF THE ARTICLE This study explored the impact of assistive technology on the well-being of legally blind adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this mixed-method study, a convenience sample of 86 legally blind adults took an electronic survey. The questionnaire was comprised of demographics, use patterns, and an instrument called TENS-Interface that measured the impact of technology on well-being categories of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Descriptive statistics, reliability, power analysis and bivariate correlations were calculated using SPSS statistical software. Three participants completed follow up semi-structured interviews, which were analysed for themes of technological mediation using NVivo 12 software. RESULTS The TENS-Interface was validated for use with a legally blind population. Descriptive statistics showed a higher mean for autonomy than competence or relatedness. Braille was positively correlated to both autonomy and competence, while screen reader proficiency was related to competence. Daily use of social media, email, instant messaging, and video calls were correlated to relatedness. The technological devices used by interview participants were analysed for technological mediation. Training was identified as an additional theme. CONCLUSIONS Recommendations for practice include providing training to legally blind adults in screen reader use and braille use to support well-being via competence and autonomy. Training is also recommended for this population in the use of social media, email, and video calls to promote well-being through opportunities for relatedness. Further research is recommended to explore instructional methods that are not only efficient, but also meaningful for older adults in the position of losing their vision.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONProviding access to braille instruction and braille assistive technology equipment can promote legally blind adults' well-being by supporting their basic needs for both competence and autonomy.Providing training in screen reader use can promote legally blind adults' well-being by supporting their basic need for competence.Providing training in use of email, social media, video calls, and instant messaging can promote legally blind adults' well-being by supporting their basic need for relatedness.A consideration of technological mediation can allow practitioners to make recommendations that take into account not only efficient task completion, but issues related to meaning and social context.Instruction for adults losing their vision adventitiously needs to address not only efficient task performance, but also meaning and social context.
Invasive Breast Cancer Treatment Patterns in Women Age 80 and Over: A Report from the National Cancer Database.

Abstract Background There are no established treatment guidelines for women with breast cancer aged ≥80 despite increasing representation in the US population. Here we identify national treatment patterns and survival outcomes in women with stage I-III invasive breast cancer. Patients and Methods Women age ≥80 diagnosed with stage I-III invasive breast cancer (IBC) were identified from 2005-2014 in the National Cancer Database. χ2, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression models were used to identify factors influencing receipt of breast surgery, and Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate overall survival (OS). Results A total of 62,575 women with IBC met inclusion criteria, of which the majority received surgery (94%). Receipt of surgery was associated with White race, age Conclusion The vast majority of breast cancer patients aged ≥80 in the National Cancer Database with IBC received primary surgical management, which was associated with a significant OS benefit. Due to this finding, surgical resection should be considered for all patients ≥80 who are suitable operative candidates.
Solar Radiation in Aquatic Systems

Extraterrestrial solar irradiance (KEX) is the solar irradiance at the “top” of the Earth’s atmosphere, on a plane perpendicular to the Sun’s rays, and at mean Earth–Sun distance. To calculate the amount of irradiance available in the photic zone, the maximum possible extraterrestrial irradiance or the solar constant, which is 1366 + 3 Watts per square meter (or W m−2), is adjusted downward to account for atmospheric attenuation and finally attenuation rates in the water body, as a function of the reciprocal of the inverse square law—the radius vector—the Earth–Sun distance d divided by the mean of d throughout the year, along with the zenith angle (z) formed by the Sun, the surface point of interest, and the vertical. The zenith angle can be computed as a function of the latitude of interest, the latitude experiencing the direct rays of the Sun on that day, i.e., solar declination (δ), and the angle that the Earth has yet to rotate through to reach solar noon or hour angle (h). On a clear day, perhaps 80% of KEX will be transmitted to the surface. However, under heavy clouds, as little as 10% of KEX reaches the surface. When solar radiation strikes a water surface at any angle other than the vertical, refraction occurs because of the density difference between air and water. In oceanography and coastal sciences, modeling the radiation emitted by a point or area source of light (usually the Sun) can often be important. Three-dimensional radiant intensity can be used to derive the amount of energy radiated by and onto points or bodies in the ocean.
Advanced Pathology Techniques for Detecting Emerging Infectious Disease Pathogens

Detection and surveillance for emerging and reemerging pathogens need a multidisciplinary approach. The intertwining complexity of these pathogens with their diverse tissue tropisms, direct effects on host cells, multiphasic immunological responses, and additional influence of superimposed secondary agents is beyond the expertise of a single discipline in modern medicine. A combined evaluation of patient’s history, clinical manifestations, and physical examination may suggest a list of differential diagnosis, but it is often insufficient to determine the specific infectious etiology. Laboratory methods are essential to identify an etiologic agent from testing clinical samples, such as blood, serum, nasopharyngeal swab, etc. These methods, including traditional microbiological techniques, conventional immunological assays, and modern molecular methods, remain the mainstay in today’s practice of clinical microbiology and infectious disease medicine. Nevertheless, there are technical and logistic issues associated with these methods, and the test results often lack a clinicopathologic correlation that can confound the interpretation of their clinical significance. For example, microbiological culture may fail to grow a causative organism, while the organism isolated by the laboratory in vitro may arise from contamination and does not represent the actual infective agent in vivo.
U.S. Energy Policy and the Pursuit of Failure

US Energy Policy and the Pursuit of Failure is an analytic history of American energy policy. For the past forty years, the US government has tried to develop comprehensive policies on energy, yet these efforts have failed repeatedly. These failures have not resulted from a lack of will or funds but rather from an inability to differentiate between what could be undertaken and what could actually be accomplished. This book explains how and why various policy efforts have come about, shows why politicians have been eager to back them, and analyzes why they have inevitably failed. Over the past four decades, US energy policy makers have pursued not just policies that have failed but also a policy process that leads to failure.
Nonlinear Waves on Water — Solitons

We develop the theory of waves on water, starting with linear waves, then giving an account of the effect of nonlinearity, and lastly going on to the existence and description of solitons. In the last section we outline the method of inverse scattering for obtaining multi-soliton solutions. Thus, in Sect. 7.1 we develop the theory of gravity waves on incompressible fluids in the absence of nonlinearity. The picture that emerges is one where in deep channels the elements of a fluid undergo circular motion of diminishing radius as we proceed perpendicularly from the surface into the channel. At the same time, dispersion, the change of the phase velocity of the waves with wave number, is revealed to be especially important in deep water. Section 7.2 is devoted to exploring the consequences of dispersion, with a discussion contrasting group and phase velocities. Nonlinear behavior is first studied in Sect. 7.3. This section begins with a description of the theory of characteristics as applied to the solution of first order, nonlinear partial differential equations (pde). Subsequently, direct application of the method of characteristics to the pdes for nonlinear water waves leads to an understanding of the deformation of the wave forms with time. Section 7.4 introduces solitons. First, it is shown that the combination of dispersion and nonlinearity together leads to the famous Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) partial differential equation. An explicit expression for the single soliton solution of the KdV equation is introduced next, followed by the much more complicated expression for several solitons. In the last section, 7.5, it is shown how the complex solutions of the KdV equation corresponding to many solitons can be generated systematically by the method of inverse scattering. In this method the desired solution of the KdV equation is taken to be the potential in a scattering problem. The potential doing the scattering is reconstructed only after the scattered function, whose time evolution is indirectly controlled by the KdV equation, has been formally determined. It turns out that each soliton can be traced to a single bound eigenstate of the initial scattering potential, that is, of the wave disturbance as it is given at the initial time.
Understanding Sponsored Search: Sending Signals to the Customer with Ads

Just be sure your advertising is saying something with substance, something that will inform and serve the consumer, and be sure you’re saying it like it’s never been said before. Bill Bernbach, cofounder of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), a worldwide creative advertising agency Bernbach [1] was a pioneer in the modern advertising field, and as the quote in the epigraph states, advertising is about informing the customer with relevant information that addresses a need and is presented in an attention-getting manner. These are the factors critical for any advertising endeavor.
High Redshift Radio Galaxies and Galaxy Formation

On the basis of the observed properties of newly identified faint radio galaxies, including 0902+34 at z = 3.4, it is argued that most and possibly all of the powerful radio galaxies seen at z ≤ 3.5 are massive galaxies (~ 1012 M ⊙) that formed well prior to z ~ 3.5, at redshifts of at least 5–10.
The Role of Courts in Ameliorating Hard Economic Times: Taking it Personally

This paper uses recent state (2004-2010) and federal (2009-2010) court decisions to explore the role of courts as mechanisms for easing the financial problems experienced by policy holders as a result of disputes with their insurance companies. Insureds who have had their claims delayed, diminished, or denied may bring suit against their insurers on a number of grounds but especially invoking alleged “bad faith” or breach of the covenant of “good faith and fair dealing.” The paper provides a background discussion of the use of contract law and tort law principles in deciding insurance cases. Analysis of the recent decisions finds that courts, both federal and state, clearly favor the insurers in such cases. State and federal courts rely strongly on precedent in deciding these cases, with state courts also using state insurance statutes for support. While some courts focus on the financial distress faced by the insureds, such concern is not widely seen in the cases examined.
Trial by Fire

The NASa/ATK Thiokol space shuttle solid rocket motor program has doubled ground test firings and enhanced manufacturing quality and process control to increase safety for Discovery's return to flight. There are a number of places where we've strengthened our engineering and our processes, says Mike Kahn, ATK Thiokol vice president of space launch systems. Protecting the booster against corrosion in the humid Florida environment is one area that has been addressed. Since the loss of Columbia, ATK Thiokol and the Marshall Space Flight Center have completely reevaluated the shuttle solid rocket motor's design certification and found no major problems, Kahn said. The Thiokol solid motors did not play a role in the 2003 Columbia accident, but the motor's older field joint design (since replaced) was the primary cause of the 1986 Challenger accident that killed seven astronauts. The 129 X 12-ft. ATK Thiokol reusable solid rocket motor forms the core of the shuttle's two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). United Space Alliance (USA) has overall responsibility for the booster's nose-mounted systems such as recovery parachutes and aft-mounted thrust vector control systems that increase the length to 149 ft. USA and its subcontractors have also reaffirmed quality control on systems such as the booster's Hamilton Sundstrand hydraulic power units for critical thrust vector control. And to ensure greater safeguards against booster debris jeopardizing the orbiter, a bolt-catcher system to restrain the large bolts, severed at booster separation, was also redesigned.
Captides: Rigid Junctions between Beta Sheets and Small Molecules

An extensive series of covalently linked small molecule–peptide adducts based on a terminally capped-beta hairpin motif is reported. The constructs can be prepared by standard solid-phase Fmoc chemistry with one to four peptide chains linked to small molecule hubs bearing carboxylic acid moieties. The key feature of interest is the precise, buried environment of the small molecule, and its rigid orientation relative to one or more short but fully structured peptide chain(s). Most of this study employs a minimalist nine residue ‘captide’, a capped β-turn, but we illustrate general applicability to peptides which can terminate in a beta strand. The non-peptide portion of these adducts can include nearly any molecule bearing one or more carboxylic acid groups. Fold-dependent rigidity sets this strategy apart from the currently available bioconjugation methods, which typically engender significant flexibility between peptide and tag. Applications to catalyst enhancement, drug design, higher-order assembly, and FRET calibration rulers are discussed. Copyright © 2014 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Moral and Legal Consequences of Wife-Selling in The Mayor of Casterbridge

What kind of man sells his wife? Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with a famous episode in which a poor hay trusser, Michael Henchard, sells his wife, Susan, by impulsively putting her up for auction in a public market. Susan is purchased by a sailor, with whom she departs and subsequently lives as husband and wife. Subtitled “The Life and Death of a Man of Character,” the novel presents itself as a study of the flawed, complex, and ultimately tragic moral character of the man who sold his wife. This essay interprets the novel’s account of the moral consequences of the wife-sale in The Mayor of Casterbridge, by examining the shifting legal and social meanings of the practice in nineteenth century Britain. The novel exploits uncertainty about the legal consequences of wife-selling to generate its moral tragedy.
Effect of diazepam on chromosomes of human leukocytes in vivo

Abstract Chromosome analyses were carried out on the blood leukocytes of 23 patients using diazepam and 8 controls. Exposure time to the agent varied from 0.5 to 36 months. One patient showed chromosome breakage in 15.3 per cent of the cells examined. Six months after stopping the use of diazepam, the breakage rate for this patient had returned to the control level. Quadriradials were seen in 2 other patients and in one control. The significance of these findings is discussed.
Clock synchronization in high‐end computing environments: a strategy for minimizing clock variance at runtime

We present a new software-based clock synchronization scheme that provides high precision time agreement among distributed memory nodes. The technique is designed to minimize variance from a reference chimer during runtime and with minimal time-request latency. Our scheme permits initial unbounded variations in time and corrects both slow and fast chimers (clock skew). An implementation developed within the context of the MPI message passing interface is described, and time coordination measurements are presented. Among our results, the mean time variance for a set of nodes improved from 20.0 milliseconds under standard Network Time Protocol (NTP) down to 2.29 secs under our scheme.
A Two-Step Method to Generate Highly-Purified Nematode Eggs from Feces: Sucrose Flotation Followed by Density Gradient Centrifugation Using Lymphocyte Separation Medium

Many modern-day studies require parasite samples essentially free of environmental contamination. Techniques used to prepare gastrointestinal nematode eggs from livestock are sufficient for biological studies but fall woefully short of generating pure preparations for downstream molecular, biochemical, and immunological studies. Consequently, a method to produce highly purified nematode parasite eggs free from fecal contamination is needed. The present study compared different procedures for egg isolation and attempted to improve the purity of Ostertagia ostertagi eggs isolated from cattle feces. The Wisconsin method using saturated sucrose has been used widely to enrich eggs from feces and is adequate for identification and counting. A more-recently developed method using the combination of salt and sucrose is robust and consistent and can be used to isolate eggs with much higher purity; however, residual fecal materials are still present in the egg preparations, which could account for large levels of nonspecific DNA and RNA contamination in the final samples. While large numbers of eggs can be harvested from the medium of overnight, in vitro-cultured adult worms, this method is labor intensive, involves euthanasia of animals, and requires the purification of adult worms to high purity and subsequent culturing to acquire the eggs. In addition, a large proportion of the eggs initiate development and hatch during isolation. In the current method, Ostertagia eggs free from fecal contamination were secondarily purified using lymphocyte separation medium (LSM) from eggs previously enriched by the Wisconsin method. The egg recovery following the LSM step was 100%. The results indicate that this two-step method involving sucrose and LSM was simple, rapid, nonselective, and greatly improved the purity of Ostertagia eggs. This method will have broad application for isolating eggs of the superfamily of Trichostrongyloidea, which includes the most-important nematode parasites infecting livestock.