cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microstructure design for fast oxygen conduction

In the past decade, the research in designing fast oxygen conducting materials for electrochemical applications has largely shifted to microstructural features, in contrast to material-bulk. In particular, understanding oxygen energetics in heterointerface materials is currently at the forefront, where interfacial tensile strain is being considered as the key parameter in lowering oxygen migration barriers. Nanocrystalline materials with high densities of grain boundaries have also gathered interest that could possibly allow leverage over excess volume at grain boundaries, providing fast oxygen diffusion channels similar to those previously observed in metals. In addition, near-interface phase transformations and misfit dislocations are other microstructural phenomenon/features that are being explored to provide faster diffusion. In this review, the current understanding on oxygen energetics, i.e., thermodynamics and kinetics, originating from these microstructural features is discussed. Experimental observations, theoretical predictions and novel atomistic mechanisms relevant to oxygen transport are highlighted. In addition, the interaction of dopants with oxygen vacancies in the presence of these new microstructural features, and their future role in the design of future fast-ion conductors, is outlined.
A new unconditionally stable fractional step method for non‐linear coupled thermomechanical problems

A new class of time-stepping algorithms for strongly coupled thermomechanical problems is presented which retains the computational convenience of traditional staggered algorithms without upsetting the unconditional stability property characteristic of fully implicit (monolithic) schemes.11 The proposed schemes are fractional step methods associated with a two phase operator split of the full non-linear system of thermoelasticity into an adiabatic elastodynamics phase, followed by a heat conduction phase at fixed configuration. This operator split is shown to inherit the contractivity property of the full problem of evolution, thus leading to unconditionally B-stable product formula algorithms. In sharp contrast with this stability result, traditional staggered algorithms based on an isothermal mechanical phase followed by a heat conduction phase with an effective heat source are shown to lead, at best, to conditionally stable schemes. It is further shown that the actual implementation of these two classes of schemes is essentially identical. The numerical simulations presented include both dynamic and quasi-static problems and are shown to closely replicate the stability estimates and non-linear stability results derived for these two classes of staggered schemes.
Role of the accessory gene regulator (agr) in pathogenesis of staphylococcal osteomyelitis.

To examine the role of the accessory gene regulator (agr) in staphylococcal osteomyelitis, we compared a Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis isolate (UAMS-1) with a derivative of the same strain (UAMS-4) carrying an inactivated agr locus. Virulence was assessed with a rabbit model of acute, exogenous osteomyelitis. Bacteria were delivered by microinjection into the midradial region of the forelimb. After 4 weeks, UAMS-1 was identified in the bone of 12 of 13 rabbits infected with > or = 2 x 10(6) CFU and 5 of 6 infected with or = 0.150). On the basis of a similar five-point scale assessing histopathological evidence of disease, rabbits infected with UAMS-1 had average scores of 2.31 +/- 0.22 (high dose) and 1.96 +/- 0.36 (low dose) while rabbits infected with UAMS-4 had average scores of 1.58 +/- 0.29 (high dose) and 0.83 +/- 0.32 (low dose). Controls had an average score of 0.33 +/- 0.05. The results obtained with UAMS-1 were significantly different from those obtained with UAMS-4 at both doses (P < or = 0.040). However, the results obtained with UAMS-4 were significantly different from the controls only at the high dose of UAMS-4 (P = 0.025). We conclude that mutation of agr reduces the incidence and severity of disease but does not eliminate the ability to colonize bone and cause histopathological evidence of osteomyelitis.
Theory of Design using Nonlinear Transformations

This paper is presenting an overview of the theory of transformations from nonlinear systems to linear systems. Topics covered include (1) necessary and sufficient conditions for transformations to exist, (2) a method of constructing transformations, (3) robustness in design (based on transformation theory) and Lyapunov functions, (4) estimation theory, and (5) the relationship between transformation theory and "nonlinear zeroes." Application of these results to automatic flight control is presented in another paper at this session.
Determination of major and minor alkalies in silicates by differential flame spectrophotometry

Abstract By attaching an external galvanometer circuit to a Beckman DU spectrophotometer and making use of an improved and highly stable air-natural gas flame, it is possible to apply the principle of differential measurement to the flame spectrophotometric determination of the major and minor alkalies and alkaline earths. Although it is doubtful that any reasonably rapid, purely flame photometric, method can ever equal the best flame-supported gravimetric techniques in determinations of major alkali constituents, procedures have been worked out whereby rubidium and caesium can be determined with improved precision, and the accuracy of sodium and potassium determinations is significantly increased.
Survival of Fledgling Ovenbirds: Influences of Habitat Characteristics at Multiple Spatial Scales

Abstract. Survival of fledgling songbirds can be influenced by habitat characteristics at multiple spatial scales, and identifying the relative influence of habitat characteristics at the micro (immediately surrounding fledglings) and meso (level of stand or cover type) scales is important for management and conservation planning. We modeled survival of fledgling Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) in managed forest in north-central Minnesota by using micro-scale and meso-scale habitat characteristics and nestlings' mass as explanatory variables. Meso-scale variables (e.g., use of logging roads and distance to cover types other than those used for nesting) better explained fledgling Ovenbirds' survival than did nestlings' mass or micro-scale variables, including ground cover, litter depth, vegetation density, and food availability. Crossing of logging roads had the strongest relationship with survival of fledgling Ovenbirds: survival of fledglings that crossed roads was 50% lower during the first 8 days after...
Environmental analysis: The applicability of current theory

It is suggested that senior-level executives and corporate staff are under mounting pressure to develop better means for assessing organizational environments. This comes at a time when there is little agreement about the concept of environment, relevant perspectives from which it should be viewed, and how to organize for its evaluation. Alternative ‘models’ for environmental analysis are examined, and theoretical issues and their administrative implications are discussed.
The Women's Health Movement: Making Policy, 1970-1995

With the advent of second-wave feminism during the 1970s, a significant body of literature emerged describing sexist practices in women's health care. Gender-bias and gender disparities found in women's health care became concerns that garnered considerable attention in the United States because of the increased health risks posed for women. This article describes key historical challenges and accomplishments made in U.S. women's health care policy during the quarter century spanning 1970-1995 that influence contemporary health care social work practice and social work education.
Detection of a constant signal using the bi-covariance function

The bispectrum cancels certain types of noise effects and detects certain types of nonlinear interactions. Two detectors based on the bicovariance, the Fourier inverse of the bispectrum, have been proposed for these reasons. The performance of these detectors is simulated and compared to the performance of the linear and the sign detectors for Gaussian noise, Gaussian noise corrupted by a sinusoid with random phase, and Arctic under-ice data. Sample bispectra and bicovariance functions for actual acoustic data are presented. >
Crohn's disease: why the disparity in mortality?

There has been no significant decrease in mortality in patients with Crohn's disease over the last several decades
A framework for studying emotions across species.

Since the 19th century, there has been disagreement over the fundamental question of whether "emotions" are cause or consequence of their associated behaviors. This question of causation is most directly addressable in genetically tractable model organisms, including invertebrates such as Drosophila. Yet there is ongoing debate about whether such species even have "emotions," as emotions are typically defined with reference to human behavior and neuroanatomy. Here, we argue that emotional behaviors are a class of behaviors that express internal emotion states. These emotion states exhibit certain general functional and adaptive properties that apply across any specific human emotions like fear or anger, as well as across phylogeny. These general properties, which can be thought of as "emotion primitives," can be modeled and studied in evolutionarily distant model organisms, allowing functional dissection of their mechanistic bases and tests of their causal relationships to behavior. More generally, our approach not only aims at better integration of such studies in model organisms with studies of emotion in humans, but also suggests a revision of how emotion should be operationalized within psychology and psychiatry.
Rotatory dispersion studies III. The cinchona alkaloids

Abstract The ORD curves of some alkaloids of the cinchona family and their 9-chloro-9-deoxy, 9-deoxy-, 9-oxo-, 8,9-anhydro-, 9-epi- and apo-derivatives have been examined. Most of the Cotton effects could be ascribed to the optical anisotropy of the quinoline ring or some more complex chromophore such as the carbonyl group conjugated with the aromatic ring as in 9-oxo-derivatives. The CD curves of three of these compounds confirmed the Cotton effects at long wavelength resulting from the anisotropy of the aromatic quinoline ring. The mutarotation of the 9-oxo-derivatives has been studied by ORD.
Hydration and Health Promotion: A Brief Introduction

Water has been recognized as essential for human life since ancient times [1]. It accounts for more than 60% of our bodies and plays important roles in physiological and biochemical functions. In 2...
Country of origin labeling for complex supply chains: the case for labeling the location of different supply chain links

We investigate the value of a country of origin label (COOL) that separately identifies the geographic location of different stages in a food product's supply chain. We estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of U.S. consumers for a packaged cereal product where the key grain ingredient may be grown in one country and processed in a second country (multicountry supply chain) and compare it to equivalent products that have both stages located in a single country. We find consumer WTP for products with single-country and multicountry supply chains are statistically different, meaning that simplifying a multicountry label by listing only the country where the ingredients are grown or only the country where the ingredients are processed can result in different consumer values. We also find that for countries with a poor quality reputation, consumers respond more negatively when that country has the “last touch” than when that country's involvement is limited to upstream supply chain links.
Uncertainty Aspects in Designing Transportation Networks for Extractive Industries

In transportation networks for extractive industries there are typically several uncertain factors including the volume of deposits, the duration of logistics operations, and the methods of delivery. All transportation networks have a unique outlet, usually a single cargo station for shipping all extracted products to other regions. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how methods of interval analysis and fuzzy sets theory are used for designing structures of such networks.
Ensemble learning approaches to predicting complications of blood transfusion

Of the 21 million blood components transfused in the United States during 2011, approximately 1 in 414 resulted in complication [1]. Two complications in particular, transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) and transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO), are especially concerning. These two alone accounted for 62% of reported transfusion-related fatalities in 2013 [2]. We have previously developed a set of machine learning base models for predicting the likelihood of these adverse reactions, with a goal towards better informing the clinician prior to a transfusion decision. Here we describe recent work incorporating ensemble learning approaches to predicting TACO/TRALI. In particular we describe combining base models via majority voting, stacking of model sets with varying diversity, as well as a resampling/boosting combination algorithm called RUSBoost. We find that while the performance of many models is very good, the ensemble models do not yield significantly better performance in terms of AUC.
Copper-induced deregulation of microRNA expression in the zebrafish olfactory system

Although environmental trace metals, such as copper (Cu), can disrupt normal olfactory function in fish, the underlying molecular mechanisms of metal-induced olfactory injury have not been elucidated. Current research has suggested the involvement of epigenetic modifications. To address this hypothesis, we analyzed microRNA (miRNA) profiles in the olfactory system of Cu-exposed zebrafish. Our data revealed 2, 10, and 28 differentially expressed miRNAs in a dose-response manner corresponding to three increasing Cu concentrations. Numerous deregulated miRNAs were involved in neurogenesis (e.g., let-7, miR-7a, miR-128, and miR-138), indicating a role for Cu-mediated toxicity via interference with neurogenesis processes. Putative gene targets of deregulated miRNAs were identified when interrogating our previously published microarray database, including those involved in cell growth and proliferation, cell death, and cell morphology. Moreover, several miRNAs (e.g., miR-203a, miR-199*, miR-16a, miR-16c, and miR-25) may contribute to decreased mRNA levels of their host genes involved in olfactory signal transduction pathways and other critical neurological processes via a post-transcriptional mechanism. Our findings provide novel insight into the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of metal-induced neurotoxicity of the fish olfactory system and identify novel miRNA biomarkers of metal exposures.
Giving Money to Get Money: How CEO Stock Options and CEO Equity Enhance IPO Valuations

Recent research has suggested that stock options and equity ownership have different motivational implications for executive risk taking. We examined investors' reactions to the differing incentive...
Approaching chemical accuracy with density functional calculations: Diatomic energy corrections

Density functional theory (DFT) is widely used to predict materials properties, but the local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange-correlation functionals are known to poorly predict the energetics of reactions involving molecular species. In this paper, we obtain corrections for the O${}_{2}$, H${}_{2}$, N${}_{2}$, F${}_{2}$, and Cl${}_{2}$ molecules within the Perdew-Burke-Enzerhof GGA, Perdew-Wang GGA, and Perdew-Zunger LDA exchange-correlation functionals by comparing DFT-calculated formation energies of oxides, hydrides, nitrides, fluorides, and chlorides to experimental values. We also show that the choice of compounds used to obtain the correction is significant, and we use a leave-one-out cross-validation approach to rigorously determine the proper fit set. We report confidence intervals with our correction values, which quantifies the variation caused by the choice of fit set after outlier removal. The remaining variation in the correction values is of the order of 1 kcal/mol, which indicates that chemical accuracy is a realistic goal for these systems.
Plasma Progesterone Levels and the Menstrual Cycle of the Monkey.

SummaryBioassay of the free and bound plasma progesterone at various intervals through a menstrual cycle in each of 2 monkeys indicate the level of free progesterone to be low during and following menstruation, high near the middle of the cycle, lower following this peak, and high in the latter half of the cycle. A low level was present at or preceding menstruation. The levels of the bound fraction were low at all times.
Morphologic Properties of Bat Wings

A method was devised for estimating aspect ratio, wing ratio, wing area, wing loading, and wing length from study skins of bats. These measures were taken of 136 species representing 15 families. Wing area and loading are positively, and wing length negatively, correlated with size. Aspect and tip ratios are independent of size and of each other. Distinctive combinations of some of these variables characterize groups of bats that presumably have similar flight modes. Speed is positively correlated with aspect ratio and tip index, but regresses significantly only on the former. Long tips coupled with low aspect ratio may characterize hoverers. Long wings and short tips may characterize bats that are capable of remaining airborne at slow speeds. Most bats with low aspect ratios are forest dwellers, whereas species with high aspect ratios are migrants and foragers in open areas.
Still Beheading Hydras: Botnet Takedowns Then and Now

Devices infected with malicious software typically form botnet armies under the influence of one or more command and control (C&C) servers. The botnet problem reached such levels where federal law enforcement agencies have to step in and take actions against botnets by disrupting (or “taking down”) their C&Cs, and thus their illicit operations. Lately, more and more private companies have started to independently take action against botnet armies, primarily focusing on their DNS-based C&Cs. While well-intentioned, their C&C takedown methodology is in most cases ad-hoc, and limited by the breadth of knowledge available around the malware that facilitates the botnet. With this paper, we aim to bring order, measure, and reason to the botnet takedown problem. We improve an existing takedown analysis system called rza . Specifically, we examine additional botnet takedowns, enhance the risk calculation to use botnet population counts, and include a detailed discussion of policy improvements that can be made to improve takedowns. As part of our system evaluation, we perform a postmortem analysis of the recent 3322.org, Citadel, and No-IP takedowns.
Numerical analysis on influence of sloped nozzle on slag accumulation in SRM

Based on the Euler-Lagrangian approach adopted to simulate 3-D two-phase internal flow in a solid rocket motor(SRM),a numerical analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of sloped nozzle on slag accumulation in a large scale SRM.The results show that sloped nozzle reduces backflow of gas-phase near the reverse side of the aft dome wall of the chamber,which causes a decrease of small particles accumulation mass on the reverse wall,correspondingly,an increase of that on the other side of the aft dome wall.Compared with straight nozzle,more condensed particles are accumulated on the wall of convergent section of the sloped nozzle,the distribution of particles velocity are more divergent,high-speed condensed particles impacting on the wall obviously aggravate insulation erosion of nozzle convergent section in a certain extent.
On fractional Schrödinger systems of Choquard type

Abstract In this article, we first employ the concentration compactness techniques to prove existence and stability results of standing waves for nonlinear fractional Schrodinger–Choquard equation i ∂ t Ψ + ( − Δ ) α Ψ = a | Ψ | s − 2 Ψ + λ ( 1 | x | N − β ⋆ | Ψ | p ) | Ψ | p − 2 Ψ in R N + 1 , where N ≥ 2 , α ∈ ( 0 , 1 ) , β ∈ ( 0 , N ) , s ∈ ( 2 , 2 + 4 α N ) , p ∈ [ 2 , 1 + 2 α + β N ) , and the constants a, λ are nonnegative satisfying a + λ ≠ 0 . We then extend the arguments to establish similar results for coupled standing waves of nonlinear fractional Schrodinger systems of Choquard type. The same argument works for equations with an arbitrary number of combined nonlinearities and when | x | β − N is replaced by a more general convolution potential K : R N → [ 0 , ∞ ) under certain assumptions.
Problems with medicines.

Taking an accurate medication history, which is a crucial step in the assessment of an adverse drug reaction, can be a difficult process. The physician must elicit from the patient all medications taken—including over-the-counter drugs and home remedies—and must identify drugs that may no longer be in their original containers. Recommendations are made for avoiding the prescription of and for discontinuing the use of unnecessary drugs; the resultant lowered “drug load” is a major factor in the prevention of adverse drug reactions.
Theory of a Free Electron Laser

In a free electron laser a relativistic electron beam is passed through a periodic static field, and amplification is achieved via stimulated emission in the direction of the electron beam. The wavelength of the emitted radiation is related to the periodicity of the static field and can be tuned continuously over a broad region by changing the energy of the incident electron beam. Laser oscillations at 3.4 microns in such a device has recently been reported by the Stanford group[1].
John Muir’s Metaphysical Imagery of the High Sierra

(1988). John Muir’s Metaphysical Imagery of the High Sierra. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 101-103.
Predictive Lossless Compression of Regions of Interest in Hyperspectral Images With No-Data Regions

This paper addresses the problem of efficient predictive lossless compression on the regions of interest (ROIs) in the hyperspectral images with no-data regions. We propose a two-stage prediction scheme, where a context-similarity-based weighted average prediction is followed by recursive least square filtering to decorrelate the hyperspectral images for compression. We then propose to apply separate Golomb–Rice codes for coding the prediction residuals of the full-context pixels and boundary pixels, respectively. To study the coding gains of this separate coding scheme, we introduce a mixture geometric model to represent the residuals associated with various combinations of the full-context pixels and boundary pixels. Both information-theoretic analysis and simulations on synthetic data confirm the advantage of the separate coding scheme over the conventional coding method based on a single underlying geometric distribution. We apply the aforementioned prediction and coding methods to four publicly available hyperspectral image data sets, attaining significant improvements over several other state-of-the-art methods, including the shape-adaptive JPEG 2000 method.
When is hemiarthroplasty preferable to intramedullary prophylactic fixation of malignant lesions of the proximal femur

Background Malignant hip lesions can be managed operatively by intramedullary (IM) nail fixation and hemiarthroplasty. Methods A retrospective review was performed on 86 patients who underwent hemiarthroplasty (n = 22) or IM nail fixation (n = 64) for prophylactic treatment of impending pathologic fracture due to malignant lesions of the hip. Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression modeling were performed to determine risk of death, fixation failure, pain relief, and return to ambulation without gait aids. Results Median survival time after surgery was 8.8 months (with no difference in survival between hemiarthroplasty and IM nail [adjusted Hazard Ratio 1.40, CI 0.72, 2.53; P = 0.31]). Hemiarthroplasty was associated with lower risk of pathologic fracture, fixation failure, or reoperation (adjusted HR 0.02, CI < 0.001, 0.48; P = 0.01). Hemiarthroplasty did not increase odds of unassisted ambulation compared to IM nail fixation (adjusted Odds Ratio [OR] 2.23, CI 0.56, 9.71; P = 0.26). The strongest predictor of postoperative ambulation was preoperative ambulation without aids (adjusted OR 28.9, CI 7.37, 161; P < 0.001). Conclusions There is no difference in survival or likelihood of unassisted ambulation after prophylactic femoral fixation with IM nails versus hemiarthroplasty in patients with metastatic disease of proximal femur.
Evaluating dietary impacts of commercial-type diets on the growth of Snake River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei)

Abstract A six–month feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of feed formulation on growth performance and proximate composition of Snake River cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei ) (initial body weight: 8.6 ± 2.0 g). Two commercially available control diets and four experimental diets formulated with varying levels of crude protein (CP) and crude lipid (CL) were used (40CP:12CL, 45CP:16CL, 45CP:24CL, 40CP:20CL amino acid supplemented [BFTC Experimental]). The results showed that fish fed diets with > 40% crude protein and 12% crude lipid had the highest final body weights, final body lengths, specific growth rates, weight gains and the lowest feed conversion ratios. Energy content was significantly higher in fish fed the 45CP:24CL diet than fish fed the 40CP:12CL or its corresponding control diet. Rudimentary cost analyses suggest that diets with higher nutrient density and amino acid supplementation have lower costs per kg gain than trout grower diets.
Fact-Finding in Constitutional Cases

The United States Constitution is most often associated with stirring ideals, such as liberty, equality, and due process. It is not typically thought of as being defined by the empirical world in which it operates, or in which it has operated. However, both the interpretation and functioning of the Constitution require courts to identify relevant facts and to evaluate empirical evidence that supports—or fails to support—the Constitution’s meaning and application. Examples abound, including whether minors are developmentally mature enough to be executed under the Eighth Amendment, or predictions of violence are sufficiently valid to civilly commit someone under the Due Process Clause, or segregation is “inherently unequal.” In virtually every constitutional case, the soaring language of the Constitution is brought down to earth by plain facts. Because facts play such an integral role in constitutional cases, there is a need for an empirically sophisticated judiciary. However difficult the task, judges cannot fulfill their constitutional responsibilities if they do not critically understand the methods of fact-finding, whether involving history or histology. Unfortunately, courts have yet to rise to this need. This Chapter brings procedural order to the reception and use of facts in constitutional decision making. Specifically, it defines and describes the functions of three types of constitutional facts—doctrinal, reviewable, and case-specific. Doctrinal facts are relevant to interpreting the meaning of the Constitution and thus affect the definition of the rules or standards used to implement the Constitution. Reviewable facts, like doctrinal facts, are general in nature; reviewable facts become relevant under some particular interpretation of the Constitution and must be found pursuant to some applicable rule or standard. Case-specific facts, as the name implies, are relevant only to the respective cases in which they arise. This taxonomy offers a framework that judges can use to gain the needed understanding of the empirical world and apply that empirical awareness to the inspirational ideals embedded in the Constitution. Without such an understanding, those ideals will be left untethered and without effect.
A Dual-Mode Actuation and Sensing Scheme for In-Run Calibration of Bias and Scale Factor Errors in Axisymmetric Resonant Gyroscopes

This paper demonstrates a dual-mode actuation and sensing scheme for differential operation and self-calibration of axisymmetric Coriolis resonant gyroscopes. The proposed scheme actuates both modes of an axisymmetric gyroscope with two identical in-phase excitation signals, and senses both modes concurrently. This dual-mode actuation architecture utilizes the difference of the individual mode outputs to cancel out the common-mode bias terms, and provide rate-independent frequency split monitoring. The symmetry of the dual-mode architecture can be utilized to provide in-run scale factor calibration capability by mimicking the mechanical Coriolis force in the electrical domain, thereby providing a virtual electrical rotation to the gyroscope, to estimate the drift of the physical scale factor over time and temperature. The dual-mode architecture is demonstrated on a 2.625-MHz substrate-decoupled bulk acoustic wave gyroscope. The inherent bias cancellation provides sub-10°/hr bias instability, with $1.4\times $ improvement of angle random walk, as compared with the conventional single-mode actuation scheme. Benefiting from the in-run mode-matching capability, the dual-mode actuation scheme exhibits $45\times $ reduction of bias drift over a temperature range of [10–80] °C. In-run scale factor calibration achieves $150\times $ reduction of scale factor turn-on repeatability error down to 62 ppm, and over $100\times $ reduction of the temperature drift of scale factor over [10–50] °C.
“Ten dams for one delta seen from space”: envisioning environmentalism in Nadine Gordimer's Get a Life

ABSTRACTWhile South African environmental activism has progressed and blossomed substantially since the 1990s, there still is no popular unified environmental movement. Some critics, such as Carl Death argue the lack of unification makes it difficult to address environmental grievances. Nadine Gordimer's Get a Life responds to this environmental problematic. Weaving in and out of the Bannerman family's thoughts, Get a Life explores what ecology and environmentalism can mean in South Africa when it is visualized from a suburban, middle-class, well-meaning male point of view. This paper examines the way the novel portrays vision, omission, and invisibility. By exploring Get a Life's motif of vision, I show that the three visions portrayed (above, below, and on the ground) all highlight distance—distance that makes it difficult to overcome borders and imagine communities, even as the ecologist voices concerns about problematic land redistribution and the effects of consumer capitalism. Privileging the visual...
Generative adversarial networks for SAR image realism

In a combat environment, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is attractive for several reasons, including automatic target recognition (ATR). In order to effectively develop ATR algorithms, data from a wide variety of targets in different configurations is necessary. Naturally, collecting all this data is expensive and time-consuming. To mitigate the cost, simulated SAR data can be used to supplement real data, but the accuracy and performance is degraded. We investigate the use of generative adversarial networks (GANs), a recent development in the field of machine learning, to make simulated data more realistic and therefore better suited to develop ATR algorithms for real-world scenarios. This class of machine learning algorithms has been shown to have good performance in image translation between image domains, making it a promising method for improving the realism of simulated SAR data. We compare the use of two different GAN architectures to perform this task. Data from the publicly available MSTAR dataset is paired with simulated data of the same targets and used to train each GAN. The resulting images are evaluated for realism and the ability to retain target class. We show the results of these tests and make recommendations for using this technique to inexpensively augment SAR data sets.
Influence of Forage Level on Response of Feedlot Steers to Salinomycin Supplementation

Two trials were conducted to evaluate the influence of forage level on the response of feedlot cattle to salinomycin. Diets containing 10, 15 and 20% forage were compared with 0 or 11 mg/kg salinomycin. In trial 1, treatment effects on feedlot performance were evaluated using 108 crossbred steers (295 kg) in a crossover design experiment. There were no salinomycin X forage level interactions (P greater than .20). Weight gain response to salinomycin supplementation averaged 5.4, 5.3 and 6.9%, respectively, for diets containing 10, 15 and 20% forage. Corresponding values for feed conversion response to salinomycin supplementation were 5.1, 3.9 and 5.9%. Averaged across forage level, salinomycin supplementation improved rate of weight gain and feed conversion by 5.9 and 5.2%, respectively (P less than .01). In trial 2, treatment effects on characteristics of ruminal and total tract digestion were evaluated in a 6 X 6 Latin-square design trial involving six crossbred steers (191 kg) with cannulae in the rumen and proximal duodenum. There were no interactions between salinomycin supplementation and forage level on characteristics of ruminal digestion (P greater than .20). Salinomycin supplementation did not influence synthesis of microbial N, ruminal digestion of organic matter, acid detergent fiber and starch, or molar proportions of acetate, propionate and butyrate (P greater than .20). Salinomycin supplementation increased passage of non-ammonia N to the small intestine (5.4%, P less than .10) and increased ruminal escape of feed N (24%, P less than .01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dispersal of Conidia of Gremmeniella abietina Related to Weather

Condia of Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet were trapped near infected red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) using rotorods and silicone coated glass microscope slides. Continuous trapping was done during the primary period of condia dispersal in Greensboro, Vermont. Numbers of conidia collected were related to weather conditions. Most conidia were trapped during periods of precipitation, but some were trapped during dry conditions. The dispersal of condia during dry conditions was associated with higher wind speeds and low relative humidities.
“I Will Give Birth But Not Too Much”: HIV-Positive Childbearing in Rural Malawi

A number of studies have demonstrated that HIV-positive women across sub-Saharan Africa are less likely than uninfected women to want more children; however, every relevant study has also found that at least a sizeable minority continue to desire a/another child in spite of their infection. In this chapter, we shed light on evolving social norms around HIV-positive childbearing and the heterogeneity of reproductive goals held by HIV-positive women in a town in southern Malawi. We argue that although HIV has had a dramatic impact on the community, it has not altered the fundamental motivations for childbearing: achieving full adulthood, maintaining the moral order, and cementing a relationship. Compared to these intrinsic values of childbearing, HIV is a relatively minor factor and is unlikely to alter a woman’s desire for children until the others have been satisfied. At this point in the epidemic, a broader social consensus about HIV-positive childbearing is emerging, and there is some fuzzy minimal threshold of children that women—even HIV-positive women—are expected and encouraged to achieve.
Burn injuries in children. The emotional and psychological effects on child and family

Attention to the total care of the patient and family is needed to promote emotional as well as physical healing. This paper looks at the grief process as experienced by the parents of a burn injured child. Mention is made of non-accidental injuries, accident prevention and the rehabilitation stage of a burn injury. Emphasis is on scalds to toddlers between the ages of 1 to 2 years.
Fracture Mechanics Analysis of Pipeline Girthwelds

Size limits for surface flaws in pipeline girthwelds are calculated on the basis of fracture mechanics analysis. Parameters for the analysis were selected from data on a 1.22-m-diameter (48 in.), 12-mm-thick (0.46 in.) pipe welded by the shielded metal-arc process. The minimum fracture toughness of the welds as determined by the crack opening displacement (COD) method was 0.1 and 0.18 mm (0.004 and 0.007 in.), depending on the flaw location. The yield strength of the welds was 413 MPa (60 ksi). Because the toughness to yield strength ratio was high, elastic-plastic fracture mechanics analysis methods were required to determine critical flaw sizes. Four approaches were employed: (1) a critical COD method based on the ligament-closure-force model of Irwin; (2) the COD procedure of the Draft British Standard Rules for Derivation of Acceptance Levels for Defects in Fusion Welded Joints; (3) a plastic instability method based on a critical net ligament strain developed by Irwin; and (4) a semi-empirical method that uses plastic instability as the fracture criterion developed by Kiefner on the basis of full-scale pipe rupture tests. Allowable flaw sizes determined by the Draft British Standard method are compared with the critical flaw sizes calculated using critical-COD and plastic instability as the respective fracture criteria. The results for both axial- and circumferential-aligned flaws vary significantly depending on the analysis model chosen. Thus, experimental work is needed to verify which model most accurately predicts girthweld behavior.
Plant growth and agrobacterium-mediated floral-dip transformation of the extremophyte schrenkiella parvula

Schrenkiella parvula is an extremophyte adapted to various abiotic stresses, including multiple ion toxicity stresses. Despite high-quality genomic resources available to study how plants adapt to environmental stresses, its value as a functional genomics model and tool has been limited by the lack of a feasible transformation system. In this protocol, we report how to generate stable transgenic S. parvula lines using an Agrobacterium-mediated floral-dip method. We modified the transformation protocol used for A. thaliana to account for unique traits of S. parvula, such as an indeterminate flowering habit and a high epicuticular wax content on leaves. Briefly, S. parvula seeds were stratified at 4 °C for five days before planting. Plants were grown at a photoperiod of a 14 h light and 10 h dark and a 130 µmol m-2s-1 light intensity, at 22 °C to 24 °C. Eight to nine week-old plants with multiple inflorescences were selected for transformation. These inflorescences were dipped in an infiltration solution of Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101 carrying the pMP90RK plasmid. We performed two rounds of flower dipping with an interval of three to four weeks to increase the transformation efficiency. The T1 seeds were collected and dried for four weeks in a container with desiccants before germination to screen for candidate transformed lines. Resistance to BASTA was used to screen T1 plants. We sprayed the BASTA solution three times with an interval of three days starting at two week-old plants to reduce false positives. A BASTA drop test was performed on surviving individual plants to identify true positive transformants. The transformation efficiency was 0.033%, yielding 3-4 transgenic plants per 10,000 T1 seeds propagated.
Growth Factor Synergy in Angiogenesis

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze existing data on the interactions of angiogenic growth factors in vivo and in vitro. It is shown that many growth factors act synergistically to elicit more potent angiogenic responses in endothelial cells. At the same time, some factors antagonize each other. Possible mechanisms of these phenomena are discussed. Anti-angiogenic strategies for cancer and retinopathies accounting for growth factor interactions are delineated with emphasis on combination therapy and targeting master regulators, such as HIF-1α and protein kinase CK2.
Direct immunofluorescence is of limited utility in patients with low clinical suspicion for an oral autoimmune bullous disorder.

OBJECTIVES Oral autoimmune bullous disorders show clinical overlap with diseases such as lichen planus and others that may cause desquamative gingivitis. As direct immunofluorescence is expensive, we sought to determine if routine histology alone would be sufficient to distinguish between oral autoimmune bullous disorders and mimics. METHODS We searched the records for patients with a suspected oral autoimmune bullous disorder who underwent biopsies for concurrent routine histologic evaluation and direct immunofluorescence and who had at least one follow-up visit. Cases were separated into high and low suspicion subgroups based on clinical findings. RESULTS Within 148 cases, the sensitivity of routine histology alone was 0.810, with a negative predictive value of 0.889. However, the specificity was 0.989 with a positive predictive value of 0.979. Of the high suspicion cases, 57 (47.1%) were found to be consistent with an oral autoimmune bullous disorder, with a total of 11 histologic false negatives. 8 cases, all in the high suspicion subgroup, showed indeterminate direct immunofluorescence results. There were no histologic false negatives or inconclusive direct immunofluorescence results in the low suspicion subgroup. CONCLUSIONS In patients with a low clinical suspicion for an oral autoimmune bullous disorder, it is reasonable and more cost-effective to evaluate the lesion with routine histology alone.
Outcome of rectus femoris muscle flaps performed by vascular surgeons for the management of complex groin wounds after femoral artery reconstructions.

Abstract Objective Groin wound complications after femoral artery reconstructions are highly morbid and notoriously difficult to treat. Successful techniques include long-term antibiotic therapy, operative debridement, and muscle flap coverage. Historically, more complex muscle flap coverage, such as a rectus femoris muscle flap (RFF), has been performed by plastic and reconstructive surgeons. In this study, the experience of vascular surgeons performing RFF in the management of wound complications after femoral artery reconstructions is reported. Methods Clinical data between 2012 and 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Data were summarized, and standard statistical analysis was performed. Results There were 23 patients who underwent 24 RFFs for coverage of complex groin wounds after femoral artery reconstructions. One of the 23 patients underwent bilateral RFFs. In this study cohort, patients had a median age of 67.5 years, and 79% (n = 19) were male. Median body mass index was 28.0 kg/m2, and 38% of patients were classified as obese on the basis of body mass index criteria. A history of tobacco use was present in 88%; however, only 29% were current smokers. Diabetes was present in 38% of patients and chronic kidney disease in 29%. Of the 24 RFFs, 14 (58%) were constructed in patients with reoperative groin surgery resulting in the need for muscle flap coverage. Femoral endarterectomy was the most common index procedure (46%), followed by infrainguinal leg bypass surgery (17%) and aortobifemoral bypass (17%). Grafts used during the original reconstruction included 12 bovine pericardial patches (50%), 6 Dacron grafts (25%), 4 PTFE grafts (17%), and 2 autogenous reconstructions (8%). Microbiology data identified 33% of patients (n = 8) to have gram-positive bacterial infections alone, 21% (n = 5) to have gram-negative infections alone, and 29% (n = 7) to have polymicrobial infections; 4 patients (13%) had negative intraoperative culture data. Median hospital stay after RFF was 8 days, and median follow-up time was 29.3 months. Major amputation was avoided in 20 of 24 limbs (83%) undergoing RFF. Eight patients underwent intentional graft or patch explantation (33%) before RFF, whereas 14 of the remaining 15 patients (93%) had successful salvage of the graft or patch after RFF. Two of the patients (13%) who underwent RFF with the intention of salvaging a prosthetic graft or patch required later graft excision. After RFF, 30-day and 1-year survival was 96% and 87%, respectively. Conclusions RFF coverage of complex groin wounds after femoral artery reconstructions may safely be performed by vascular surgeons with excellent outcomes.
Formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms in Full-thickness Scald Burn Wounds in Rats.

Using Sprague-Dawley rats (350–450 g; n = 61) and the recently updated Walker-Mason rat scald burn model, we demonstrated that Pseudomonas aeruginosa readily formed biofilms within full-thickness burn wounds. Following the burn, wounds were surface-inoculated with P. aeruginosa in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), while sterile PBS was used for controls. On post-burn days 1, 3, 7, and 11, animals were euthanized and samples collected for quantitative bacteriology, bacterial gene expression, complete blood cell counts, histology, and myeloperoxidase activity. Robust biofilm infections developed in the full-thickness burn wounds inoculated with 1 × 104 CFU of P. aeruginosa. Both histology and scanning electron microscopy showed the pathogen throughout the histologic cross-sections of burned skin. Quantigene analysis revealed significant upregulation of alginate and pellicle biofilm matrix genes of P. aeruginosa within the burn eschar. Additionally, expression of P. aeruginosa proteases and siderophores increased significantly in the burn wound environment. Interestingly, the host’s neutrophil response to the pathogen was not elevated in either the eschar or circulating blood when compared to the control burn. This new full-thickness burn biofilm infection model will be used to test new anti-biofilm therapies that may be deployed with soldiers in combat for immediate use at the site of burn injury on the battlefield.
A Case of Male Breast Cancer Patient with CHEK2*1100delC Mutation.

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease that accounts for less than one percent of all breast cancers. The association between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and MBC has been well-established; recent data suggest that CHEK2 1100delC heterozygosity is also associated with an increased risk of MBC. Herein, we present the case of a 47-year-old male who was initially diagnosed with bilateral symmetric gynecomastia on a diagnostic mammogram performed for right breast palpable lump. Sixteen months after his diagnosis of gynecomastia, he presented with enlarging right breast palpable lumps and underwent a diagnostic mammogram and breast ultrasound. Ultrasound-guided biopsies were performed on the right breast mass and axillary lymphadenopathy. Pathology revealed right breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and right axillary metastatic lymphadenopathy. Subsequent genetic testing found CHEK2*1100delC mutation. This case report focuses on the presentation, diagnosis, and management of breast cancer, as well as long-term cancer screening in the setting of CHEK2 mutation in a relatively young male patient.