cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toxicological Evaluation of Realistic Emission Source Aerosols (TERESA)-power plant studies: assessment of cellular responses

The Toxicological Evaluation of Realistic Emission Source Aerosols (TERESA) project assessed primary and secondary particulate by simulating the chemical reactions that a plume from a source might undergo during atmospheric transport and added other atmospheric constituents that might interact with it. Three coal-fired power plants with different coal and different emission controls were used. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed for 6 h to either filtered air or aged aerosol from the power plant. Four exposure scenarios were studied: primary particles (P); primary + secondary (oxidized) particles (PO); primary + secondary (oxidized) particles + SOA (POS); and primary + secondary (oxidized) particles neutralized + SOA (PONS). Exposure concentrations varied by scenario to a maximum concentration of 257.1 ± 10.0 μg/m(3). Twenty-four hours after exposure, pulmonary cellular responses were assessed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), complete blood count (CBC), and histopathology. Exposure to the PONS and POS scenarios produced significant increases in BAL total cells and macrophage numbers at two plants. The PONS and P scenarios were associated with significant increases in BAL neutrophils and the presence of occasional neutrophils and increased macrophages in the airways and alveoli of exposed animals. Univariate analyses and random forest analyses showed that increases in total cell count and macrophage cell count were significantly associated with neutralized sulfate and several correlated measurements. Increases in neutrophils in BAL were associated with zinc. There were no significant differences in CBC parameters or blood vessel wall thickness by histopathology. The association between neutrophils increases and zinc raises the possibility that metals play a role in this response.
Rural and agricultural crime

Thinking and research about crime have traditionally been urban centered. This focus has diverted attention from the study of other areas and has reduced general understanding of crime. The thesis advanced here, stated in the form of propositions for consideration, is that rural and agricultural crimes are fertile and significant areas for inquiry.
Color Variation among Habitat Types in the Spiny Softshell Turtles (Trionychidae: Apalone) of Cuatrociénegas, Coahuila, Mexico

Ground coloration is highly variable in many reptile species. In turtles, ground color may correspond well to the background coloration of the environment and can change over time to match new surroundings in the laboratory. Variable carapace and plastron coloration across three habitat types were investigated in the Black Softshell Turtle, Apalone spinifera atra, by measuring individual components of the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color system. In general, A. s. atra carapaces were darker in turtles from lagoons than in turtles from playa lakes. Red and green values were significantly different among all pairs of habitat types, but blue values differed only between the playa lakes and lagoons. Mean color components (RG only) for each population were significantly correlated with corresponding values for the bottom substrate, indicating a positive association of carapace and habitat substrate color components. In contrast, plastron ground color RGB channels showed no significant differences between habitat types and no significant correlations with substrate RGB. These results suggest that dorsal background matching in A. s. atra may be responsible for some of the variation in this key taxonomic trait.
Accelerated method for the reduced-parameter modeling of head-related transfer functions for customizable spatial audio

Many spatial audio ("3D sound") systems are based on the use of Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs). Since the measurement of these HRTFs for each prospective listener is impractical in many applications, developers frequently use "generic" HRTFs (e.g., from a mannequin), sacrificing the superior spatialization that could be provided by "individual" HRTFs. This paper presents an improved method for decomposing the impulse response of measured HRTFs, known as Head-Related Impulse Responses (HRIRs), into multiple delayed and scaled damped sinusoids, as a means to obtain the parameters that will instantiate a general model in order to produce the same impulse response as the original HRTF. This is the first step in developing alternative functional models of HRTFs that would contain only a few parameters related to anatomical features of the intended listener, which could be estimated for each user, i.e., "customizable" HRTF models. The new decomposition algorithm is based on the use of higher-order (higher than second order) Steiglitz-McBride functional approximations supplemented by frequency-domain selection of the most appropriate damped sinusoid to represent each of the components of the original, measured HRIR under analysis.
What's in a Name? Personal Identity and Naming on Anuta

Names and the messages that they communicate have been a subject of general and anthropological interest. Here data are presented from Anuta, a Polynesian island in the eastern Solomons, showing that one's sense of identification with one's name is as intimate as in the west, and that social bonds are frequently established through the naming process, but without the permanence and exclusivity that we associate with names. Suggestions are offered as to why names are such potent vehicles for shaping people's sense of who they are and where they fit into their universe.
Limbitis secondary to autologous serum eye drops in a patient with atopic keratoconjunctivitis

Purpose. Report a case of limbitis secondary to autologous serum eye drops in a patient with atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Design. Interventional case report. Methods. A 32-year-old African American female with atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) presented with chronic dry eye and diffuse punctate epithelial erosions refractory to conservative treatment. She was initially managed with cyclosporine ophthalmic 0.05% in addition to preservative-free artificial tears and olopatadine hydrochloride 0.2% for 6 months. She was later placed on autologous serum eye drops (ASEDs) and 4 weeks into treatment developed unilateral limbitis. The limbitis resolved shortly after stopping ASEDs in that eye; however, the drops were continued in the contralateral eye, which subsequently developed limbitis within 2 weeks. ASEDs were discontinued in both eyes, and the patient has remained quiet ever since. Results. Patient with a history of AKC and no prior history of limbitis developed limbitis shortly after starting ASEDs, which resolved promptly after discontinuation of therapy with no subsequent recurrence of inflammation. Conclusion. ASEDs are widely used in the treatment of complicated or treatment refractory dry eye. The potential side effects should be kept in mind when prescribing ASEDs for any patient, especially in those with underlying immunological diseases and circulating inflammatory factors.
In the court or in the village? Settling disputes in Yap: 1950–1979∗

20th century, the Y?pese people were confronted with choices between tra ditional and introduced strategies to settle personal and corporate disputes. In 1947 the US miUtary governor of Guam directed that municipal councils, magis trates, and laws be estabUshed in each Yap municipaUty. The Trust Territory High Court heard its first case on Yap in 1950, and with the establishment of civ? administration under the Department of the Interior in July 1951 the District Court became a significant part of the governing structure. These introduced institutions provided new alternatives for the resolution of disputes and at times denied the vaUdity of traditional ones. This paper examines, over a 30-year period, the increasing role of the Yap District and State Court for settling disputes. Through case studies and court statistics the paper documents how the people of Yap chose between two sig nificantly different institutions, with their respective structures and procedures: the traditional Y?pese viUage with its internal hierarchy and its external al Uances, and the American instituted Court. Each played a significant role in the recent history of government on Yap, as people sought the most satisfying alternative to resolve their differences or to obtain restitution for perceived damages to their property, persons, or kin. Yap is located in the Western Caroline Islands, and is poUtically the capital of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The land area is approximately 38 square miles, and the population in 1980 was approximately 7,000 people. Yap State includes the atolls to the east of Yap, extending from UUthi to Satawal, but the people of these islands are UnguisticaUy and culturally distinct. This study is based upon analyses of case materials of disputes coUected through participant observation and interviewing in the Gagil municipaUty of Yap in 1967-69, and 1979-80, and upon analyses of 30 years of records kept in the dockets of the Yap District and Yap State Courts.l
Country matters: Executives weigh in on the causes and counter measures of counterfeit trade

Abstract In this article, we present the findings of a study examining the exploding problem of counterfeit trade via the opinions of U.S. executives as compared to their counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Tahiti. Their responses provide insight as to how companies in different countries are attacking piracy and consumer complicity with counterfeit products. Per our study, executives in Australia, Tahiti, and the U.S. had similar perspectives: they viewed the seller as the main driver of counterfeit trade for reasons of profit. These executives perceived the demand for counterfeits as being driven by desirable product attributes and the ease of obtaining them. Likewise, they cited two anti-counterfeiting actions—site licenses and reduced price/rebates—as being able to reduce the demand for illicit products. In contrast, South African executives observed the main reason for piracy as weak enforcement of intellectual property (IP) and the lure of exorbitant profits, with little value in any anti-counterfeiting actions other than special packaging. These executives put forth that South African consumers are complicit due to limited education and low disposable income, and the ready availability of counterfeits. Executives from New Zealand were the most optimistic, believing that piracy and complicity can be reduced by many anti-counterfeiting actions, including special packaging, reducing price, emphasizing product benefits/warranties, stressing the harmful effects of using fake products, offering site licenses, and listing of authorized sellers.
The cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitope of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein also modulates the efficiency of receptor-ligand interaction with hepatocytes.

Malaria sporozoites are transmitted from the mosquito salivary gland to host hepatocytes within minutes of an infectious bite. The circumsporozoite protein (CS), which covers the surface of Plasmodium sporozoites, functions during these minutes in the targeting of host liver cells. The protein's potentially important role in an antimalaria vaccine has spawned interest in both the host immune responses to the parasite's presence and the actual functional role of the protein in the targeting of host liver cells. Here we show that the region of CS known to elicit a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to irradiated sporozoites also, somewhat ironically, mediates the receptor-ligand interaction essential to parasite invasion of the host. Hence, the structure of CS represents a balance of potentially counterdirectional forces. Polymorphism in the CTL epitope appears to be a product of this balanced state as opposed to an “arms race” as it is so often portrayed. The conceptual difference between the theories regarding the maintainance of polymorphism in CTL epitopes may have significant implication for vaccine design.
Preverbal subjects, information structure, and object clitic position in Old Occitan

The position of object and adverbial clitics remains problematic in Old Occitan syntax (Wanner 2010). This paper analyzes clitic position specifically in affirmative main declaratives with overt preverbal subjects, in which clitics are either preverbal or postverbal with no apparent semantic distinction. Thus, the phrases En Constantiss’enanet and En Constantis anet s’en are semantically equivalent, each meaning ‘Sir Constantine left’, whether the clitics s’en ‘himself.from-there’ appear before or after the verb anet ‘went’. Previous analyses have concluded that this variation is random (Meriz 1978) or due to regional or dialectal variation (Hinzelin 2007). Neither approach satisfactorily addresses the underlying grammar or the principles underlying the distribution of the variants. The present analysis draws on claims about the left periphery in medieval Romance (Beninca 2006) and reports empirical data from the troubadour biographies (vidas and razos) and the vida of Saint Douceline. Results from 470 subject–verb declaratives establish that the subject in subject–verb–clitic sequences is left-dislocated, albeit covertly so. This sequence is one of several instantiations of subject left dislocation in Old Occitan and usually signals topic shift.
Metabolism of Vitamin B-6 by Human Liver

The enzymes that metabolize vitamin B-6 were analyzed in liver biopsy samples from five patients without hepatic disease by using methods optimized for small samples. Pyridoxal kinase (EC 2.7.1.35) activities were 11.2 Â±3.6 nmol/ minute per gram of tissue and 0.16 Â±0.05 nmol/minute per milligram of soluble protein (mean Â±SD); a clear dependence of the activity on zinc as the divalent cation was observed. Pyridoxine (pyridoxamine) S'-phosphate oxidase (EC 1.4.3.5) activities, when using A/-(5'-phosphopyridoxyl)-(3H)tryptamine as the substrate, were 0.64 Â±0.22 pmol/minute per milligram of protein and 47 Â±19 pmol/minute per gram of tissue. The activities were 63 Â±18% lower when ribof lavin 5'-phosphate was omitted from the assay; hence, it appears the oxidase is only partially saturated with its cofactor. The pyridoxal S'-phosphate hydrolase(s) activities at alkaline pH were 282 Â±183 nmol/minute per gram of tissue and 4.0 Â±3.2 nmol/minute per milligram of particulate protein. Pyridoxal was rapidly oxidized to pyridoxic acid (28.1 Â±19.8 nmol/minute per gram of tissue and 0.37 Â±0.24 nmol/minute per milligram of solu ble protein) by soluble enzyme(s), and the rate was unaffected by pyridine nucleotides. These experiments constitute the first quantitative analyses of the enzymes responsible for metabolizing vitamin B-6 in human liver, and provide data for interpreting the pharmacokinetics of B-6 utilization by humans, as well as methods for investigating diseases with aberrant metabolism of this nutrient. J. Nutr. 114: 1664-1674, 1984.
IEP Use by General and Special Education Teachers

The role of general and special educators in implementing the Individualized Education Program (IEP) is critical. This study investigated the perceptions of those teachers on when they read the IEP, how they measure attainment of IEP goals and objectives, and the IEPs usefulness in instructional planning. Four hundred twenty-six teachers from suburban school districts in central New Jersey were respondents. Results indicated that the majority of general and special education teachers are reading their students’ IEPs in a fairly timely manner and that they find them moderately useful in planning instruction. Results also suggested that teachers relied heavily on grades to document attainment of IEP goals and that teachers felt that the IEPs themselves could be improved if they were shorter with student-specific, critical information that was more relevant to classroom instruction.
A Gendered Assessment of the ''Threat of Victimization'' Examining Gender Differences in Fear of Crime, Perceived Risk, Avoidance, and Defensive Behaviors

Rader has called for a change in how researchers study fear of crime, suggesting that fear of crime, perceptions of risk, and experiences with victimization are interrelated dimensions of the larger ‘‘threat of victimization’’ concept. In this study, the authors examine how each independent dimension affects additional theoretical dimensions of the ‘‘threat of victimization’’ and how these relationships vary by gender. Using data from residents of Kentucky, the authors estimate a series of multivariate linear and logistic regression models. The findings presented here suggest that gender differences do exist in the components of the threat of victimization and that many of the relationships in the Rader model are multifaceted, including the relationship between perceived risk, fear of crime, and avoidance and defensive behaviors. Implications of these findings for future research regarding predictors of the threat of victimization are discussed.
Considerations of Survey Error in Surveys of Hispanics

As the largest and fastest-growing minority population in the United States, Hispanics have become an increasing focus of survey research. The vast body of Hispanic research evidences myriad options regarding sampling, data collection, and weighting, each of which can affect the resulting data about this population. Typical survey designs feature simple random samples (sometimes obtained as part of larger omnibus or general-population surveys), stratified RDD, �top market,� and surname designs. In addition, some studies obtain interviews in English only, while others offer both English and Spanish but make choices regarding the use and allocation of bilingual interviewers. Finally, there are a range of considerations in the weighting of Hispanic survey data. Utilizing data from a national omnibus survey, the General Social Survey, and the Pew Hispanic Center National Survey of Latinos, this article explores these three foci: sampling, interviewing language, and weighting. We report on what we find to be best practices and the implications of failing to enact these practices, as measured by bias and variance in survey estimates of Hispanics.
Processing and Characterization of Hexagonal Ferrite Thin Films from Organometallic Compounds

Thin films of BaFe12O19 were deposited on resistor-grade alumina by a chemical solution processing method involving the hydrolysis of a barium alkoxide and iron carboxylate. Conversion of the deposited organometallic precursor to an amorphous oxide was accomplished by a thermal decomposition/oxidation at 370°C. Subsequent development of the M-type hexagonal structure was accomplished with postannealing in air at temperatures in excess of 600°C. All films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and magnetic measurements.
Bethanechol Chloride as a Suggested Adjunct to Prolonged in vivo Exposure Therapy in the Treatment of Paruresis

A major difficulty in treating paruresis (psychogenic urinary retention) by prolonged in vivo exposure therapy involves the individual's inability to initiate urination in response to anxiety-provoking stimuli easily and frequently enough to generalize the desired behavior to everyday situations. Administration of bethanechol chloride, a parasympathomimetic compound that facilitates urination by prompting contraction of the detrusor muscle of the bladder, prior to therapeutic sessions is suggested to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of in vivo desensitization procedures in the treatment of paruresis.
On computing the global time-optimal motions of robotic manipulators in the presence of obstacles

A method for computing the time-optimal motions of robotic manipulators is presented that considers the nonlinear manipulator dynamics, actuator constraints, joint limits, and obstacles. The optimization problem is reduced to a search for the time-optimal path in the n-dimensional position space. A small set of near-optimal paths is first efficiently selected for a grid, using a branch and bound search and a series of lower bound estimates on the traveling time along a given path. These paths are further optimized with a local path optimization to yield the global optimal solution. Obstacles are considered by eliminating the collision points from the tessellated space and by adding a penalty function to the motion time in the local optimization. The computational efficiency of the method stems from the reduced dimensionality of the searched spaced and from combining the grid search with a local optimization. The method is demonstrated in several examples for two- and six-degree-of-freedom manipulators with obstacles. >
The effect of compression on natural graphite anode performance and matrix conductivity

Anodes for lithium-ion cells were constructed from three types of natural graphite, two coated spherical and one flaky. Anode samples were compressed from 0 to 300 kg/cm2 and studied in half-cells to study the relations between anode density, SEI formation and anode cyclability. The C/25 formation of the SEI layer was found to depend on the nature of the graphite and the anode density. Compression of the uncoated graphite lead to an increased conductivity, but only slight improvements in the efficiency of the formation process. Compression of the anodes made from the amorphous-carbon-coated graphites greatly improved both the reversible capacity and first-cycle efficiency. In addition, the fraction of the irreversible charge associated with the surface of the graphite increased with compression, from both an increase in the electrolyte contact as well as compression of the amorphous layer. The cyclability of all of the anodes tended to improve with compression. This suggests that it is the improvement in the conductivity of the anode plays more of a role in the improvement in the cyclability than the formation process.
Role of plasma exchange in ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation.

Background In the past, ABO incompatibility was an absolute contraindication for solid organ transplantation. However, multiple recent trials have suggested strategies for overcoming the reactions between graft antigens and recipient antibodies that cause graft rejection. In this study, we determined the usefulness of plasma exchange (PE) for removing anti-A/B antibodies that cause hyperacute/acute humoral graft rejection in patients undergoing ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation. Methods In our study, 12 patients underwent ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation. All recipients received pre-transplantation conditioning by PE or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) administration. After pre-transplantation conditioning, anti-A/B antibody titers were evaluated, and transplantation was performed when the titer was below 1:8. To assess the transplantation outcome, anti-A/B antibody titers, creatinine level, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and proteinuria levels were measured. Results Anti-A/B antibody titers were below 1:8 in all patients at the time of transplantation. eGFR measured on post-transplant day 14 showed that 10 patients had immediate recovery of graft function, while 2 patients had slow recovery of graft function. Short-term outcomes of ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (measured as creatinine levels) after reducing anti-A/B antibody titers were similar to those of ABO-compatible kidney transplantation. After transplantation, the anti-A/B antibody titers were below 1:8 in 7 patients, but the remaining 5 patients required post-transplantation PE and IVIG treatment to prevent antigen-antibody reactions. Conclusions With the increasing demand for kidney donations, interest in overcoming the ABO incompatibility barrier has increased. PE may be an important breakthrough in increasing the availability of kidneys for transplantation.
Statins and serum cholesterol's associations with incident dementia and mild cognitive impairment

Background Statin use and serum cholesterol reduction have been proposed as preventions for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods 1604 and 1345 eligible participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) were followed after age 50 for a median time of around 25 years, to examine the incidence of dementia (n=259) and MCI (n=138), respectively. Statin use (ever-use and time-dependent use), total cholesterol levels (TC; first visit and time-dependent), TC change trajectory from first visit and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C):TC ratio (first visit and time-dependent) were the main exposures of interest. Cox proportional hazards models were used. Results Participants with incident dementia had a higher first-visit TC compared with participants who remained free of dementia and MCI, while first-visit TC was higher among statin ever-users compared with never-users (age-unadjusted associations). Statin users had a two- to threefold lower risk of developing dementia (HR=0.41; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.92), but not MCI, when considering time-dependent ‘statin use’ with propensity score model adjustment. This association remained significant independently of serum cholesterol exposures. An elevated first-visit TC was associated with reduced MCI risk (upper quartile (Q 4 ) vs Q 1 : HR=0.51; 95% CI 0.29 to 0.90). Compared with the lowest quartile (Q 1 : 0.00–0.19), HDL-C:TC (time-dependent) in (Q 2 : 0.19–0.24) was associated with reduced MCI risk (HR=0.58; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.98). Among men only, TC decline from first visit was significantly associated with increased dementia risk (HR=4.21; 95% CI 1.28 to 13.85). Conclusions Statins may have multifactorial effects on dementia but not MCI risk. Future interventions may be warranted, and research should focus on optimal serum TC, HDL-C:TC ratio and TC change trajectories.
Basal leg blood flow in healthy women is related to age and hormone replacement therapy status

Reduced basal limb blood flow and vascular conductance have important implications for both disease risk and physical function in humans. Recently we demonstrated that basal whole-leg blood flow is 25–30 % lower in healthy older men compared with young men (Dinenno et al. 1999, 2001a). Age-related changes in lower-leg blood flow are mediated by a reduction in leg vascular conductance (increase in leg vascular resistance) (Dinenno et al. 1999, 2001a), which is, in turn, associated with elevated leg muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA; Dinenno et al. 1999) and augmented α-adrenergic vasoconstrictor tone (Dinenno et al. 2001c). Female ageing is unique because of the menopause, the resulting loss of circulating oestrogen and the use of oestrogen-based hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by some postmenopausal women to relieve the symptoms of menopause. These factors may affect basal limb perfusion, given the potent acute vasodilatory (Gilligan et al. 1994; Volterrani et al. 1995; Dubey & Jackson, 2001) and possible sympathoinhibitory (Sudhir et al. 1997; Vongpatanasin et al. 2001; Weitz et al. 2001) actions of oestrogen. Despite these potential effects of changes in circulating oestrogen status on basal limb perfusion with female ageing, no information is available on these issues. Accordingly, in the present study our primary experimental aims were to determine whether: (1) basal whole-leg blood flow is reduced in healthy oestrogen-deficient postmenopausal women compared with premenopausal women, (2) basal limb blood flow is augmented in oestrogen-supplemented postmenopausal women compared with their oestrogen-deficient peers and (3) these age- and oestrogen status-related differences in basal leg blood flow are associated with corresponding differences in leg vascular conductance, MSNA and/or systemic arterial blood flow.
Teenage girls' perceptions of the functions of relationally aggressive behaviors

Adolescent girls reported on their experiences both as perpetrators and as victims of several distinct forms of relational aggression. Details of these incidents were gathered from 114 ethnically diverse ninth and tenth graders via a secure online survey. The frequency with which girls perpetrated or were targeted for particular acts of relational aggression was assessed and, based on the responses, a computer program randomly selected one item (i.e., gossip, ignoring, or exclusion) for which each girl was asked to recall a specific experience and answer follow-up questions. Perceptions of the goals and functions of specific relationally aggressive acts were assessed, as well as how the perpetrator or victim felt at the time of the incident. Ignoring or “giving the silent treatment” appeared to be a unique form of relational aggression inasmuch as the girls perceived different motives, or functions, for ignoring compared with gossip and exclusion and felt worse at the time of the ignoring incident, both when they were reporting as aggressors and as victims. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Differential Systems: Theory

In this chapter, we study systems of ordinary differential equations. Our study will focus on first-order systems. These have the form $$\left\{ {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{{y}_{1}}^{\prime } = {{f}_{1}}(x,{{y}_{1}},{{y}_{2}},...,{{y}_{n}})} \\ {{{y}_{2}}^{\prime } = {{f}_{2}}(x,{{y}_{1}},{{y}_{2}},...,{{y}_{n}})} \\ {...} \\ {{{y}_{n}}^{\prime } = {{f}_{n}}(x,{{y}_{1}},{{y}_{2}},...,{{y}_{n}})} \\ \end{array} } \right.$$ .
Abstract T P195: Do Women Benefit More From tPA Than Men? Results From the BASIC Project

Background: Pooled analysis of IV tPA treatment trials showed that women received benefit from treatment while men did not, though it is unclear if these results generalize to treatment in the community. We examined the benefit of tPA by sex in a population-based stroke study in a community without an academic medical center. Methods: Ischemic strokes were identified from the BASIC Project (2009-2012). tPA treated (n=70) and non-tPA treated cases (arriving ≤3 hours of symptom onset, n=145) with complete data were included. Data were from interviews (baseline and 90 days post-stroke) and medical records. Functional outcome was measured by modified Rankin scale (0-2 vs ≥3). The effect of tPA treatment on functional outcome (mRS 0-2) was determined using a matched propensity score (PS) analysis. Models were adjusted for age and sex-specific effects generated using a treatment by sex interaction. Because the matched analysis resulted in reduced sample size due to inability to match some tPA (n=22) and non-tPA...
Neoliberalism and the welfare state: Plenary Lecture, UK Social Policy Association Annual Conference, 8th July 2014

As its name indicates, the UK Social Policy Association has always been dedicated to an examination of the complex of policies we call the welfare state. Appropriately, this year's conference has b...
Influencing Local Housing Policy

Abstract This paper presents a description of the application of a task force approach to involving students in strategies for influencing policy on the local level. The specific targets of intervention were local policies related to the location of public housing in inner-city communities. The task force approach was shown to be a useful tool in providing students with hands-on experience in influencing policy in the local community. The paper presents a model for the application of the task force approach to involving students in influencing local policy. The challenges associated with this approach are outlined, along with suggested teaching and classroom management strategies.
Experimental missile wounding of the brain.

If a missile penetrates a cerebral hemisphere and does not severely disrupt the brain or transit a vital brain structure, it is hypothesized that the indirect effect of ordinary pressure waves set up by the interaction of missile and tissue and that impinge on brain stem respiratory nuclei determines life or death. The likelihood of fatal apnea is a direct function of missile energy of deposit within the brain. With brain wounding, a reduction in CO may also occur, but missile energy required to produce a significant CO decrease is in excess of that required to produce respiratory problems. Unless the individual managed to survive a period of apnea or respiratory resuscitation occurred, the effects of apnea would overshadow any CO decreases. Although transmitted ordinary pressure waves might interfere with the reticular activating system within the brain stem and produce persistent coma, specific long-lasting neurologic defects from a missile wound usually result from direct missile damage to the cerebral cortex or cortical projections. In designing treatments for missile wounds of the brain, two distinct entities must be kept in mind: the brain stem and the cerebral cortex. To decrease the immediate mortality from brain wounding, prompt treatment has to be devised to aid dysfunctional respiratory nuclei and possibly cardiac control nuclei. To decrease long-term neurologic morbidity, drug therapy has to be instituted to help injured cerebral cortical neurons for days to weeks after wounding. Totally different strategies and drugs may be needed to treat the brain stem as opposed to the cerebral cortex. Language: en
Cellular injury in phosphate depletion: pathogenesis and mechanisms in the myocardium.

Phosphate depletion is commonly associated with proximal muscle weakness, muscle pain, impaired resting membrane potential (1) and mild elevation of creatine phosphokinase and aldolase (1). Phosphorus depletion in experimental animals has been shown to cause severe muscle weakness and creatinuria (2). Fuller and associates (1) examined the effect of phosphate depletion and repletion on skeletal muscle in the dog; they found that resting muscle membrane potential and muscle content of potassium and total phosphorus fell, while muscle sodium, chloride and water content rose with phosphate depletion. All these abnormalities returned to, or towards, normal with phosphate repletion. Further studies by the same group of investigators demonstrated that overt rhabdomyolysis may be precipitated by the superimposition of severe hypophsophatemia on pre-existing subclinical myopathy (3). In addition, a rise in creatine phosphokinase occurs in patients who develop acute fall in the serum levels of phosphorus (4). The observation that myopathie symptoms develop only in severe hypophosphatemia (4), and that acute hypophosphatemia may be associated with acute rhabdomyolysis suggest that both serum and cellular inorganic phosphorus levels play an important role in the myopathy.
Government communication in the digital age: Social media’s effect on local government public relations:

Using data collected from interviews with public information officers (PIOs) in local governments, this study explores the use and perceptions of social media as a communication tool. It specifical...
Electronic Structure of N-V Centers and Terahertz Spectroscopy of Diamond

We report an essentially complete characterization of energies and relaxation processes of the lowest seven electronic states of the N-V (nitrogen-vacancy) center in diamond using several different nonlinear laser spectroscopie techniques. We have also applied ultrafast optical techniques to measure dielectric properties of CVD and bulk diamond in the 0.3-1.6 THz range for the first time.
Resistance to Methyl Parathion and Monocrotophos in the Bandedwing Whitefly in Louisiana

Bioassays during 1969–71 demonstrated that Trialeurodes abutilonea (Haldeman) had developed up to 78× resistance to methyl parathion in certain areas of Louisiana. Levels of resistance were highest in populations from areas where growers were experiencing the greatest difficulty in controlling this insect. Although low levels of resistance (6×) to monocrotophos were demonstrated in laboratory tests, it was still effective for control of bandedwing whiteflies in the field.
Reflection on the Trend and Development of Higher Vocational Education in Knowledge-based Economic Times

What's the main task of high Professional Education after the cultivation of pragmatic talents make great changes on society economic and the life style.It’s the main task to make clear under knowledge-based economy the professional education development strategies and analytical study of ways and there should be a accurate location.
Acute Posterior Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy

Acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) is a condition characterized by multiple large plaque-like posterior pole lesions located in the inner choroid and/or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Often, the lesions are transient and follow a viral prodrome suggesting a possible infectious etiology.
Cardiac chest pain

Hemodynamic therapy remains the foundation of aortic dissection (AD) care, and successful control of blood pressure and heart rate improves patient comfort. The first step in AD care, anti-impulse therapy, serves as optimal medical management and also provides pain relief. Ongoing pain after beta-blocker administration usually indicates incomplete blood pressure control. In such cases, pain relief (and optimal medical management) is facilitated by vasodilation. When AD is accompanied by cardiac ischemia, the calcium channel blocker nicardipine is indicated. Citing sedative and anxiolytic properties, expert reviewers recommend morphine for AD pain, but there is no evidence demonstrating its superiority over other opioids. Patients in pain from AD tend to be hypertensive, but in those cases where blood pressure is borderline or low, fentanyl's limited hemodynamic impact is attractive. Anesthesiologists confirm fentanyl's utility for AD, including in cases where there are complicating conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage or pregnancy.
EyeOpener: Editing Eyes in the Wild

Closed eyes and look-aways can ruin precious moments captured in photographs. In this article, we present a new framework for automatically editing eyes in photographs. We leverage a user’s personal photo collection to find a “good” set of reference eyes and transfer them onto a target image. Our example-based editing approach is robust and effective for realistic image editing. A fully automatic pipeline for realistic eye editing is challenging due to the unconstrained conditions under which the face appears in a typical photo collection. We use crowd-sourced human evaluations to understand the aspects of the target-reference image pair that will produce the most realistic results. We subsequently train a model that automatically selects the top-ranked reference candidate(s) by narrowing the gap in terms of pose, local contrast, lighting conditions, and even expressions. Finally, we develop a comprehensive pipeline of three-dimensional face estimation, image warping, relighting, image harmonization, automatic segmentation, and image compositing in order to achieve highly believable results. We evaluate the performance of our method via quantitative and crowd-sourced experiments.
Perioperative self-reflection among surgical residents.

Abstract Background We studied prevalence and predictors of meaningful self-reflection among surgical residents and with prompting/structured interventions, sought to improve/sustain resident skills. Methods Residents from six programs recorded 1032 narrative self-reflective comments (120 residents), using a web-based platform. If residents identified something learned or to be improved, self-reflection was deemed meaningful. Independent variables PGY level, resident/surgeon gender, study site/Phase1: July2014-August2015 vs. Phase2: September2015-September2016) were analyzed. Results Meaningful self-reflection was documented in 40.6% (419/1032) of entries. PGY5's meaningfully self-reflected less than PGY1-4's, 26.1% vs. 49.6% (p = 0.002). In multivariate analysis, resident narratives during Phase 2 were 4.7 times more likely to engage in meaningful self-reflection compared to Phase1 entries (p Conclusions Surgical residents uncommonly practice meaningful self-reflection, even when prompted, and PGY5/chief residents reflect less than more junior residents. Substantial/sustained improvements in resident self-reflection can occur with both training and interventions.
Magnetic guidestar assisted light focusing through scattering media (Conference Presentation)

Optical scattering of biological tissue limits the working depth of conventional biomedical optics, which relies on the detection of ballistic photons. Recent developed optical phase conjugation (OPC) technique breaks through this depth limit by harnessing the scattered photons and shaping an optical wavefront that can “undo” the optical scattering. The OPC system measures the complex light field exiting the tissue and reconstructs a phase conjugated copy of the measured wavefront, which propagates in the reversed direction to the source of the light. To focus light inside a scattering medium, an embedded light source or “guidestar” is often required. Therefore, developing guidestar mechanisms plays an important role in advancing the OPC technique for deep tissue optical focusing and imaging. In addition to having strong optical modulation efficiency and compact size, a favorable guidestar for biomedical applications should also have good biocompatibility, fast response time, and be noninvasive or require only minimally invasive procedure. While a number of guidestar mechanisms have been developed and showed promising for various biomedical applications, they all have their own limitations. We have been developing new guidestars and tailoring them to meet the need for biomedical imaging and therapies. We are going to present our recent progress in novel guidestar development, compare them with established guidestar mechanisms, and discuss their potential in biomedical applications.
Surgical Management of Epilepsy in Adolescent Patients

Surgery for the treatment of medically refractory epilepsy remains one of the most effective yet underutilized therapies in all of medicine. The pediatric and adolescent patient population, in particular, stands to benefit from early intervention to achieve the goal of seizure freedom. As per emerging guidelines from the International League Against Epilepsy, patients who now fail as few as two anti-epileptic medication trials should be referred to a surgical epilepsy center for evaluation. For these individuals, surgical intervention has been shown to offer a substantially higher rate of seizure-freedom and improved quality of life, as compared with ongoing medical therapy alone. In this context, we review here the clinical approach to medically intractable epilepsy, including the pre-operative evaluation and surgical options. Our report summarizes several resective surgical strategies including lesionectomy, temporal lobectomy and extra-temporal lobectomy, in addition to hemispherectomy techniques. We also provide an overview of several palliative surgical options, including corpus callosotomy, vagus nerve stimulation and responsive neurostimulation. We then close with a brief discussion of emerging techniques for the minimally invasive surgical epilepsy management. Overall, we advocate for early referral in the pediatric and adolescent population to a comprehensive epilepsy program to establish candidacy for surgical intervention, and we conclude that surgery is safe and effective for the management of epilepsy patients afflicted with medically refractory seizures.
Microvascular characteristics of the acoustic fats: Novel data suggesting taxonomic differences between deep and shallow-diving odontocetes.

Odontocetes have specialized mandibular fats, the extramandibular (EMFB) and intramandibular fat bodies (IMFB), which function as acoustic organs, receiving and channeling sound to the ear during hearing and echolocation. Recent strandings of beaked whales suggest that these fat bodies are susceptible to nitrogen (N2 ) gas embolism and empirical evidence has shown that the N2 solubility of these fat bodies is higher than that of blubber. Since N2 gas will diffuse from blood into tissue at any blood/tissue interface and potentially form gas bubbles upon decompression, it is imperative to understand the extent of microvascularity in these specialized acoustic fats so that risk of embolism formation when diving can be estimated. Microvascular density was determined in the EMFB, IMFB, and blubber from 11 species representing three odontocete families. In all cases, the acoustic tissues had less (typically 1/3 to 1/2) microvasculature than did blubber, suggesting that capillary density in the acoustic tissues may be more constrained than in the blubber. However, even within these constraints there were clear phylogenetic differences. Ziphiid (Mesoplodon and Ziphius, 0.9 ± 0.4% and 0.7 ± 0.3% for EMFB and IMFB, respectively) and Kogiid families (1.2 ± 0.2% and 1.0 ± 0.01% for EMFB and IMFB, respectively) had significantly lower mean microvascular densities in the acoustic fats compared to the Delphinid species (Tursiops, Grampus, Stenella, and Globicephala, 1.3 ± 0.3% and 1.3 ± 0.3% for EMFB and IMFB, respectively). Overall, deep-diving beaked whales had less microvascularity in both mandibular fats and blubber compared to the shallow-diving Delphinids, which might suggest that there are differences in the N2 dynamics associated with diving regime, phylogeny, and tissue type. These novel data should be incorporated into diving physiology models to further understand potential functional disruption of the acoustic tissues due to changes in normal diving behavior.
Bioenergetic Controls on Microbial Ecophysiology in Marine Sediments.

Marine sediments constitute one of the most energy-limited habitats on Earth, in which microorganisms persist over extraordinarily long timescales with very slow metabolisms. This habitat provides an ideal environment in which to study the energetic limits of life. However, the bioenergetic factors that can determine whether microorganisms will grow, lie dormant, or die, as well as the selective environmental pressures that determine energetic trade-offs between growth and maintenance activities, are not well understood. Numerical models will be pivotal in addressing these knowledge gaps. However, models rarely account for the variable physiological states of microorganisms and their demand for energy. Here, we review established modelling constructs for microbial growth rate, yield, maintenance, and physiological state, and then provide a new model that incorporates all of these factors. We discuss this new model in context with its future application to the marine subsurface. Understanding the factors that regulate cell death, physiological state changes, and the provenance of maintenance energy (i.e. endogenous versus exogenous metabolism), is crucial to the design of this model. Further, measurements of growth rate, growth yield, and basal metabolic activity will enable bioenergetic parameters to be better constrained. Last, biomass and biogeochemical rate measurements will enable model simulations to be validated. The insight provided from the development and application of new microbial modelling tools for marine sediments will undoubtedly advance the understanding of the minimum power required to support life, and the ecophysiological strategies that organisms utilize to cope under extreme energy limitation for extended periods of time.