cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Polymerase Chain Reaction-Amplified DNA Fragments of Clostridium Botulinum Type E Neurotoxin Gene by High Performance Capillary Electrophoresis

Abstract Detection of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin-producing strains is primarily accomplished using the mouse bioassay. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method has proven to be a rapid, sensitive technique for amplifying target DNA sequences of pathogenic microorganisms. Four PCR-amplified gene fragments derived from the Clostridium botulinum Type E neurotoxin gene, ranging from 410–630 bp, were analyzed by capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE). Sample preparation of PCR fragments required membrane dialysis to remove salt ions. PCR fragments were analyzed by CGE using both linear and covalently cross-linked polymers. Conditions for low-viscosity entangled polymer solutions were optimized to achieve the desired separation efficiency. Assessment of both types of polymer systems included resolution, reproducibility, and sizing accuracy of the PCR fragments. Advantages and limitations of each polymer system are discussed. Electropherograms were compared to results obtained from the agarose slab gel meth...
Component Distribution and Interactions in Powdered Infant Formula

Abstract A 600 kg batch of experimental milk-based infant formula mix (40 : 60 casein to whey protein ratio) was processed in a pilot plant and samples were taken immediately before processing and immediately after HTST pasteurization, homogenization, condensing and spray drying. In electron microscopy observations, fat globules and casein micelles appeared as well-defined discrete spheres before processing. After pasteurization, casein micelles displayed rough irregular surfaces, presumably due to casein–whey protein interactions, and confirmed by an increase in sedimentable N from 45% of total N before pasteurization to 55% after pasteurization. After homogenization, casein–whey protein aggregates appeared to be attached to the surfaces of fat globules. Nitrogen content of the fat fraction increased from 2% of total N before homogenization to 30% after homogenization, confirming high levels of protein–lipid interactions. SDS-PAGE showed high levels of caseins and whey proteins in the fat fraction. Minerals that are strongly associated with casein micelles (Ca, P, Mg and Zn) increased dramatically in the fat fraction, suggesting that casein-bound minerals were associated with fat phase as a result of casein–lipid interactions on homogenization. Protein–lipid interactions were evidenced by both the presence of high protein level in the fat fraction and the presence of fat globules in the pellet on centrifugation. There was little change in microstructure, N, and mineral distribution after condensing and spray drying.
Changes in selected aspects of immune function in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens, associated with exposure to cold.

The effect of exposure to low temperatures (5 °C) on lymphocyte proliferation, leukocyte populations, and serum complement levels was examined in the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens. Proliferation of T lymphocytes in response to phytohemagglutinin stimulation was significantly decreased in frogs kept for 2, 3, and 5 months at 5 °C compared to that of animals kept at 22 °C. A significant increase in the average percentage of neutrophils and a decrease in the mean percentage of eosinophils was observed in the blood of frogs held for 5 months in the cold compared to animals held at 22 °C for the same length of time. Mean serum complement activity after 1 month at 5 °C was significantly reduced in comparison to animals held at 22 °C and was not detectable after 5 months in the cold. Recovery of complement levels at room temperature (22 °C) was also examined after cold exposure. Complement levels were significantly higher than controls (at 22 °C) in frogs returned to 22 °C for 7 and 14 days after 5 months in the cold. After frogs were held at 5 °C for 1 month, serum complement levels increased significantly within 2 days after returning to 22 °C and continued to rise 5 and 9 days after warming. Injections with Aeromonas hydrophila following a 5-week exposure to 5 °C failed to cause death or observable symptoms of disease in frogs that were returned to 22 °C.
Fuzzy summaries in database mining

The problem of discovery in databases focuses on the issue of extracting knowledge from information contained in a database. We feel that fuzzy logic can provide a powerful tool to aid in this endeavor. In particular we feel that the the idea of a linguistic summary, can be an important vehicle for representing discovered knowledge. We describe some of the salient ideas related to the concept of linguistic summaries. >
Unsupervised Learning Approach to Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation

This research is concerned with investigating the problem of data compression utilizing an unsupervised estimation algorithm. This extends previous work utilizing a hybrid source coder which combines an orthogonal transformation with differential pulse code modulation (DPCM). The data compression is achieved in the DPCM loop, and it is the quantizer of this scheme which is approached from an unsupervised learning procedure. The distribution defining the quantizer is represented as a set of separable Laplacian mixture densities for two-dimensional images. The condition of identifiability is shown for the Laplacian case and a decision directed estimate of both the active distribution parameters and the mixing parameters are discussed in view of a Bayesian structure. The decision directed estimators, although not optimum, provide a realizable structure for estimating the parameters which define a distribution which has become active. These parameters are then used to scale the optimum (in the mean square error sense) Laplacian quantizer. The decision criteria is modified to prevent convergence to a single distribution which in effect is the default condition for a variance estimator. This investigation was applied to a test image and the resulting data demonstrate improvement over other techniques using fixed bit assignments and ideal channel conditions.
A trend analysis of the relative value of blue dye and isotope localization in 2,000 consecutive cases of sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer

Abstract BACKGROUND: Among the advocates of blue dye, isotope, or combined dye-isotope mapping of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) for breast cancer, there is no universal consensus as to which technique is optimal and whether the relative value of each method changes with increasing experience. The objective of this study was to examine the relative contributions of blue dye and radioisotope to successful identification of the SLN as the SLN-mapping technique evolved over our first 2,000 consecutive cases. STUDY DESIGN: Using the first 2,000 consecutive SLN biopsy procedures for breast cancer, performed by eight surgeons (none previously experienced in SLN techniques) at one institution, using a combined technique of blue dye and isotope mapping, we report the institutional learning curve and the relative contributions of dye and isotope to identifying both the SLN and the positive SLN, by increments of 500 cases. RESULTS: Comparing the first 500 with the most recent 500 cases, success in identifying the SLN by blue dye did not improve with experience, although success in isotope localization steadily increased, from 86% to 94% (p marginal benefit of blue dye (the proportion of cases in which the SLN was identified by blue dye alone) steadily declined, from 9% to 3% (p = 0.0001). Parallel to this trend, the proportion of positive SLNs identified by blue dye did not change with experience (89% to 90%), but isotope success steadily increased, from 88% to 98% (p = 0.0015). The proportion of positive SLNs identified by blue dye alone declined from 12% to 2% (p = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Using a combined technique of blue dye and radioisotope mapping, and with refinement of the radioisotope technique, we report 97% success identifying the SLN. Although we continue to recommend the use of both methods in SLN mapping for breast cancer, we observe with experience a declining marginal benefit for blue dye.
Comparing Psychological abstracts and Index medicus For coverage of the journal literature in a subject area in psychology

The journal literature on a subject area in psychology—operant conditioning—as indexed in the 1978 issues of Psychological Abstracts (PA) and Index Medicus (IM) is compared. Considerable overlap is found for this subject in the coverage of journal titles by the two indexing tools, but use of both is necessary to assure a comprehensive search. The extent of overlap corresponds closely with the findings of the Bearman-Kunberger overlap study. Considerable differences between PA and IM in their recency of coverage of the literature are found. Core journals for articles on operant conditioning are identified. Scattering of the articles among journal titles is found to conform to Bradford's law.
Bereavement-Related Regret Trajectories Among Widowed Older Adults

minants of one’s postloss adjustment, there have been few empirical investigations of bereavement-related regrets. This present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal course of these regrets and their correlates among widowed older adults. Methods. Drawing upon information from 201 widowed older adults in the Changing Lives of Older Couples study, this present study used latent class growth analysis to identify unique longitudinal trajectories of regret from 6 to 48 months postloss and examine differences between these trajectories with regard to grief and depressive symptomatology. Results. Three distinct bereavement-related regret trajectories were identified, characterized by Stable Low Regret, Stable High Regret, and Worsening High Regret. Results revealed that those in the Worsening High Regret group, whose bereavement-related regrets were exacerbated during the study, had the poorest grief outcomes. No differences were observed between these groups with regard to depressive symptoms, indicating that regret may be a unique marker of difficulties in the grieving process. Discussion. These findings highlight the importance of periodically reassessing bereavement-related regrets (and per haps other aspects of the continued relationship with the deceased) over time and support the rationale behind interventions designed to facilitate resolution of these issues.
A review of treatment research for self-injurious and stereotyped responding.

A review of current research in the treatment of self-injurious and stereotyped behaviour is made using rule-out criteria for methodologically inadequate studies and meta-analytic procedures. It was found that profoundly mentally retarded persons between 16 years of age and over are the most likely to be effectively treated. Sex of the subject seemed to have no effect, while the level of mental retardation and the degree to which it was a factor in treatment effectiveness was unclear. The behaviour most frequently treated were head hitting and body rocking. It may also be the case that reinforcement is more effective than frequently believed when compared to punishment. The greatest effectiveness was apparent with DRO, lemon juice therapy, time-out, air splints, and DRO plus overcorrection. The implications of these data for clinicians and future research are discussed. Language: en
N-channel hidden Markov models for combined stressed speech classification and recognition

Robust speech recognition systems must address variations due to perceptually induced stress in order to maintain acceptable levels of performance in adverse conditions. One approach for addressing these variations is to utilize front-end stress classification to direct a stress dependent recognition algorithm which separately models each speech production domain. This study proposes a new approach which combines stress classification and speech recognition functions into one algorithm. This is accomplished by generalizing the one-dimensional (1-D) hidden Markov model to an N-channel hidden Markov model (N-channel HMM). Here, each stressed speech production style under consideration is allocated a dimension in the N-channel HMM to model each perceptually induced stress condition. It is shown that this formulation better integrates perceptually induced stress effects for stress independent recognition. This is due to the sub-phoneme (state level) stress classification that is implicitly performed by the algorithm. The proposed N-channel stress independent HMM method is compared to a previously established one-channel stress dependent isolated word recognition system yielding a 73.8% reduction in error rate. In addition, an 82.7% reduction in error rate is observed compared to the common one-channel neutral trained recognition approach.
Onboard Learning of Adaptive Behavior: Biologically Inspired and Formal Methods

Long lifetime autonomous ground vehicles traveling in rough terrain will need a higher level of autonomy with behaviors that must also adapt to declining vehicle health and unknown environmental conditions. For example, the MER (Mars Exploration Rovers) Spirit and Opportunity have both passed 1900 days of life on the Martian surface, with possible extensions to 2200 days and beyond depending on rover health. Changes in navigational planning due to degradation of the drive motors as they pass their lifetime are currently done on Earth for the Spirit rover. This paper reviews biologically inspired and formal methods of adaptive control and presents an algorithm for onboard learning of navigation strategies using adaptive weight learning within a free flow hierarchy (FFH) behavior framework. We also present the results of some field studies.
Joint optimization of relay position and power allocation in cooperative broadcast wireless networks

In this paper, we examine the resource optimization problem in a broadcast relay network where a source broadcasts signals to the user receivers, which are distributed over a service region. The source does not have direct line-of-sight to the service area and the information is delivered through a relay. The objective of this paper is to jointly optimize the relay position as well as the power allocation between the source and relay so that the outage probability of the signal received at the user nodes is minimized. Two different optimization criteria, which respectively minimize the worst-case outage probability and the average outage probability, are used. The analyses are verified by simulation results.
Remark on Exponential Decay of Ground States for N -Laplacian Equations

We study exponential decay property of radial ground states to a class of N-Laplacian elliptic equations in the whole space RN . Their decay rates as |x|→∞ are obtained explicitly. AMS Subject Classifications: 35B40, 35J70 Chinese Library Classifications: O175.24
Malignant Epithelioid Angiosarcoma of the External Iliac Vein Presenting as Venous Thrombosis

A case is reported of a 28-year-old female who initially presented with a right iliac deep venous thrombosis of unclear etiology. A stenosis in the iliac vein was seen, but no intrinsic or extrinsic mass was noted on multiple imaging studies. The patient presented 2 years later with right hydronephrosis, and at that time a right pelvic mass was discovered. Resection was performed with concomitant reconstruction of the right iliac arterial system, and pathology revealed a malignant epithelioid angiosarcoma.
Origin of new cells in the adult kidney: results from genetic labeling techniques.

For nearly 100 years, developmental biologists have utilized fate mapping to understand the contributions of progenitor populations to organogenesis. More recently, Cre-Lox technology has allowed genetic fate mapping in adult mice, clarifying cell hierarchies in adult kidney disease models. In ischemia–reperfusion injury, genetic labeling of epithelial cells has demonstrated that intrinsic epithelial cells are responsible for nephron repair and not an interstitial or other non-epithelial cell type. In fibrotic kidney injury, fate mapping techniques have strongly challenged the theory that epithelial cells traverse the basement membrane to become myofibroblasts in a process of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and also indicate that interstitial pericytes/perivascular fibroblasts are the authentic myofibroblast progenitor pool. This mini review will summarize the fate mapping approach in mice, convey recent developments in kidney disease models, and outline future opportunities to apply this technology to better understand the cellular mechanisms of adult kidney homeostasis and disease.
Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for Suicide Prevention: Future Directions

Psychotherapeutic interventions targeting suicidal thoughts and behaviors are essential for reducing suicide attempts and deaths by suicide. To determine whether specific psychotherapies are efficacious in preventing suicide and suicide-related behaviors, it is necessary to rigorously evaluate therapies using RCTs. To date, a number of RCTs have demonstrated efficacy for several interventions focused on preventing suicide attempts and reducing suicidal ideation. Although these studies have contributed greatly to the understanding of treatment for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the extant literature is hampered by a number of gaps and methodologic limitations. Thus, further research employing increased methodologic rigor is needed to improve psychotherapeutic suicide prevention efforts. The aims of this paper are to briefly review the state of the science for psychotherapeutic interventions for suicide prevention, discuss gaps and methodologic limitations of the extant literature, and suggest next steps for improving future studies.
Does concern for global warming explain support for wave energy development? A case study from Oregon, U.S.A.

Renewable energies are proposed by some as viable alternatives that can at least partly satisfy our growing energy demands while protecting the environment, especially by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions produced by carbon-based fuels. In transitioning from conventional fossil fuel to alternative energy provision, citizen understanding of the global energy problems and their causes and solutions is believed to be the key for the development of renewable energy. Numerous studies attest to the potential of wave energy development in Oregon, USA. This paper examines first, if the social basis for environmental concerns explain global warming awareness that temperatures are rising, and beliefs in its anthropogenic sources; and second, if people who are aware of the human impact on the rising global temperatures are more supportive of renewable energy development. Findings from a statewide survey, conducted in September-October 2008, reveal: 1) the majority of Oregonians are aware of the human-caused temperature rise and 2) they have a positive attitude toward wave energy development. However, the results indicate that the environmental values and concerns shaping understanding of the causes and consequences of global warming do not necessarily lead to support for renewable energy development. Policy and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Inner arm dynein 1 is essential for Ca++-dependent ciliary reversals in Tetrahymena thermophila

Cilia in many organisms undergo a phenomenon called ciliary reversal during which the cilia reverse the beat direction, and the cell swims backwards. Ciliary reversal is typically caused by a depolarizing stimulus that ultimately leads to a rise in intraciliary Ca++ levels. It is this increase in intraciliary Ca++ that triggers ciliary reversal. However, the mechanism by which an increase in intraciliary Ca++ causes ciliary reversal is not known. We have previously mutated the DYH6 gene of Tetrahymena thermophila by targeted gene knockout and shown that the knockout mutants (KO6 mutants) are missing inner arm dynein 1 (I1). In this study, we show that KO6 mutants do not swim backward in response to depolarizing stimuli. In addition to being unable to swim backwards, KO6 mutants swim forward at approximately one half the velocity of wild-type cells. However, the ciliary beat frequency in KO6 mutants is indistinguishable from that of wild-type cells, suggesting that the slow forward swimming of KO6 mutants is caused by an altered waveform rather than an altered beat frequency. Live KO6 cells are also able to increase and decrease their swim speeds in response to stimuli, suggesting that some aspects of their swim speed regulation mechanisms are intact. Detergent-permeabilized KO6 mutants fail to undergo Ca++-dependent ciliary reversals and do not show Ca++-dependent changes in swim speed after MgATP reactivation, indicating that the axonemal machinery required for these responses is insensitive to Ca++ in KO6 mutants. We conclude that Tetrahymena inner arm dynein 1 is not only an essential part of the Ca++-dependent ciliary reversal mechanism but it also may contribute to Ca++-dependent changes in swim speed and to the formation of normal waveform during forward swimming. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 53:281–288, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
New power loss optimized Fontan connection evaluated by calculation of power loss using high resolution PC-MRI and CFD

A new blood vessel configuration was invented to optimize blood flow efficiency and reduce the power loss in the Fontan connection. The current preferred Fontan configuration, the total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC), usually connects the venae cava (VC) to the pulmonary arteries (PA), bypassing the right ventricle. The new connection, called OptiFlo, has two vertical inlets, which both bifurcate then merge into one another to form two horizontal outlets. One of the preliminary configurations of the new OptiFlo model was used for a comparison experiment between computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and high resolution phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) with a voxel resolution of 0.23 mm/spl times/0.23 mm/spl times/0.25 mm. The thin slice thickness was achieved using the ACGI interpolation technique we have used in other applications before. The 2D PC-MRI velocity vectors were mapped into a CFD grid, enabling direct CFD and MRI data comparisons. The mean squared difference was found between the two dataset Using the viscous power dissipation function we calculated the power loss for both CFD and MRI data. The power losses, calculated with the viscous power dissipation function, were 0.66 mW for CFD and 0.46 mW for the PC-MRI data.
Comparison of Lagrange constrained neural network with traditional ICA methods

The paper presents comparison between the a priori MaxEnt and the a posteriori MaxEnt methodologies, namely Lagrange Constraint Neural Network (LCNN) by Szu in 1997 and ICA algorithms by Bell-Sejnowski-Amari-Oja (BSAO) and many others since 1996. We chose the remote sensing application because it is the only real world application that we know to be truly linear, single path, and instantaneous mixing of the unknown ground spectral objects.
The diopside-kyanite join at high pressures and temperatures

Initial mixes of composition (molecular proportions) 2 anorthite: 2 enstatite: diopside have been crystallized at 1200°C over a pressure range of 13.5–36 kb. The stable mineral assemblage changes from anorthite+clinopyroxene solid solution+orthopyroxene at 13.5 kb to clinopyroxene solid solution+garnet+minor quartz at 18 kb to clinopyroxene solid solution+garnet+minor quartz+minor kyanite at 22.5–36 kb. The proportion of garnet and its grossular content increases with increasing pressure. On addition of 1/2, 1 and 2 moles of jadeite to the initial mix, crystallization of garnet is markedly inhibited and the grossular content decreases. This study has application to the relative stability of clinopyroxene-kyanite or garnet-quartz assemblages in natural rocks such as eclogites and grospydites from kimberlite pipes.
Forgiveness, Law, and Justice

Introduction 1616 I. What Is Forgiveness? 1618 II. What Roles May Law Play in Forgiveness? 1620 III. Questions About the Inquiry into Law and Forgiveness 1626 A. Does Using Law to Promote Forgiveness Wrongly Impose Burdens? 1626 B. How Does Societal Forgiveness Compare with Interpersonal Forgiveness? 1627 C. Does Forgiveness Amount to a “Second Best” When Justice Is Not Possible? 1630 D. Does Forgiveness Impair Law and Its Commitments to Predictability and Equal Treatment? 1630 1. Should International Criminal Law Forgive Failures to Prosecute When Truth Commissions Rather Than Criminal Prosecutions Follow Mass Atrocities? 1631 2. Child Soldiers? 1633 3. Forgiving Debt 1638 IV. Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 1644
Bargaining in Legislatures

Bargaining in legislatures is conducted according to formal rules specifying who may make proposals and how they will be decided. Legislative outcomes depend on those rules and on the structure of the legislature. Although the social choice literature provides theories about voting equilibria, it does not endogenize the formation of the agenda on which the voting is based and rarely takes into account the institutional structure found in legislatures. In our theory members of the legislature act noncooperatively in choosing strategies to serve their own districts, explicitly taking into account the strategies members adopt in response to the sequential nature of proposal making and voting. The model permits the characterization of a legislative equilibrium reflecting the structure of the legislature and also allows consideration of the choice of elements of that structure in a context in which the standard, institution-free model of social choice theory yields no equilibrium.
Control of Bonded SiH in Silicon Oxides Deposited by Remote Plasma Enhanced CVD

This paper describes Optical Emission Spectrocopy (OES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS) studies of the plasma region in the Remote Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) and silicon oxide thin films. In Remote PECVD, only the O2/He mixture is plasma excited, silane is introduced into the deposition chamber well below the plasma region. Deposition of films has been studied over a wide range of relative He and O2flows, between 100% He and 100% O2. The incorporation of SiH in the oxides derives from the same mechanism as the deposition of a-Si:H, i.e., a metastable He induced fragmentation of silane.
Determination of 15+1 European Priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Edible Oil by Online Solid Phase Extraction and High Performance Liquid Chromatography

A novel method was developed for the determination of the 15 + 1 European priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oil by online solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet / fluorescence detection( online-SPE-HPLC-UV / FL-D). The edible oil samples were diluted with isopropyl alcohol,and then filtered. The online extraction was performed on a solid phase extraction Chrom Spher Pi column( 80 mm×3 mm) and the separation was carried out on a C18 reversed-phase PAH column( 250 mm×4.6 mm i.d,5 μm) using ultraviolet detection at 220 nm and fluorescence detection.Isopropyl alcohol,acetonitrile and water were served as mobile phase in gradient elution. The results showed good linearity for the 15+1 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with all the correlation coefficients( R2) 0.99.The limits of detection( LODs) were between 0.03 and 12.23 μg / kg. The recoveries of the sixteen components in the three levels of spiked samples were in the range of 65.3%-110.5% with the relative standard deviation( RSD,n = 6) from 0.1% to 9.8%.
Analysis of monitoring results of drinking-water type endemic fluorosis in Fuyang city in 2012

Objective To understand the situation of drinking-water type endemic fluorosis and water-improving projects in Fuyang city,and provide the evidence for the further work of fluoride poisoning prevention and control.Methods According to the requirements of "Implementation plan of 2012 central government subsidy of public health in Anhui Province for endemic disease control project" and "Monitoring program for drinking-water type endemic fluorosis in Anhui province(2012 Revision)",to carry out monitoring work of drinking-water type endemic fluorosis.Results In water-improving area,the detection rate of dental fluorosis among children aged 8~12 was 14.83%,dental fluorosis index was 0.29.However,in the area without water-improving projects,the detection rate of dental fluorosis was 23.23%,dental fluorosis index was 0.39.The water-improving projects were normal operated and water fluoride content was in line with national standards.Conclusion Water fluoride contents were qualified in the water-improving areas.In the areas without water-improving projects,monitoring results were basically consistent with the previous surveys.
Role of platelets in lysis of dilute plasma clots: requirement for metabolically active platelets.

The role of platelets in clot lysis has been investigated functionally with the use of dPRP clots formed at 4 degrees and shifted to 37 degrees. Clots handled in this manner lysed in 6 hr (+/- 1 hr), whereas clots formed at 4 degrees or at 37 degrees and held at those temperatures, or clots formed from dPPP did not lyse in less than 20 hr. dPRP clots having the shorter (6 hr) lysis time released 14C-5-HT at the time of the temperature shift. Preincubation of dPRP with antimycin A and 2-deoxy-D-glucose before addition of thrombin prolonged the clot lysis to 26 hr and inhibited release of 14C-5-HT at the time of the temperature shift. These studies demonstrate that metabolically active platelets are required to mediate the optimal clot lysis seen in the 4 degrees to 37 degrees system and that they continue to function (i.e., take up and release 5-hydroxytryptamine) after they have been incorporated into a clot. Thus the dPRP clot lysis system provides a model by which the timing and sequence of the interaction of metabolically active platelets with the fibrin framework of the formed clot can be studied.
The impact of onsite wastewater disposal systems on groundwater in areas inundated by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey.

Coastal onsite wastewater disposal systems (OWDS) were inundated by Hurricane Sandy's storm tide. This study compares the shallow groundwater quality (nutrients, pharmaceuticals, and hormones) downgradient of OWDS before and after Hurricane Sandy, where available, and establishes a baseline for wastewater influence on groundwater in coastal communities inundated by Hurricane Sandy. Nutrients and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were detected in shallow groundwater downgradient of OWDS in two settings along the New Jersey and New York coastlines: 1) a single, centralized OWDS in a park; and 2) multiple OWDS (cesspools) in low-density residential and mixed-use/medium density residential areas. The most frequently detected pharmaceuticals were lidocaine (40%), carbamazepine (36%), and fexofenadine, bupropion, desvenlafaxine, meprobamate, and tramadol (24–32%). Increases in the number and total concentration of pharmaceuticals after Hurricane Sandy may reflect other factors (seasonality, usage) besides inundation, and demonstrate the importance of analyzing for a wide variety of CECs in regional studies.
Specific red cell adherence testing and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

AbstractSpecific red cell adherence testing has established itself as a valuable means of predicting the behavior of non-invasive bladder carcinoma. In an attempt to determine whether specific red cell adherence testing could have a similar role in low grade, low stage prostatic carcinoma we first attempted to detect its presence in benign prostatic diseases. We tested 36 consecutive prostatectomy specimens of benign disease for the presence of specific red cell adherence in the prostatic acini. We were able to detect the presence of specific red cell adherence in only 36 per cent of the cases with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Thus, we believe that specific red cell adherence testing is not present in a sufficient percentage of patients with benign disease to allow its usefulness in determining the aggressive behavior of prostatic cancer.
Oxidoreductase-Facilitated Visualization and Detection of Human Cancer Cells.

Achieving highly selective and sensitive detection/visualization of intracellular biological events through the use of cell-penetrable, bioanalyte-activatable, turn-on probes is dependent on the presence of specific event-linked cellular biomarkers, if and only if there exist activatable probes that appropriately respond to the biomarker analyte. Here is described the evaluation of, and use in cellular imaging studies, a previously undisclosed naphthalimide probe QMeNN, whose fluorescence is deactivated by photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) quenching that results from the presence of a covalently linked biomarker-specific quinone trigger group. Highly selective and rapid activation of the quinone group by the human cancer tumor-linked NAD(P)H:quinone oxido-reductase isozyme 1 (hNQO1) results in fast trigger group removal to yield a highly fluorescent green-energy-range reporter that possesses a high molar absorptivity; there is a 136-fold increase in brightness for the enzymatically produced reporter ve...
Memory and Complications to the Interviewing of Suspected Child and Adolescent Victims

Forensic interviews with children are complex due to a number of variables such as variability in their cognitive development, the potential for suggestibility, threats or bribes, the sensitive nature of topics that may need to be examined, difficulties establishing rapport, etc. This chapter reviews factors that impact the quality of forensic interviews of children who may be abused and presents a model that attempts to comprehensively assess or control for potentially biasing influences. Research on suggestibility is also reviewed.
Collaboration Between Cognitive Science and Business Management to Benefit the Government Sector

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary science which studies the human dimension, drawing from academic disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and computer modeling. Business management is controlling, leading, monitoring, organizing, and planning critical information to bring useful resources and capabilities to a viable market. Finally, the government sector has many roles, but one primary goal is to bring innovative solutions to maintain and enhance national security. There currently is a gap in the government sector between applied research and solutions applicable to the national security field. This is a deep problem since a critical element to many national security issues is the human dimension and requires cognitive science approaches. One major cause to this gap is the separation between business management and cognitive science: scientific research is either not being tailored to the mission need or deployed at a time when it can best be absorbed by national security concerns. This paper addresses three major themes: (1) how cognitive science and business management benefits the government sector, (2) the current gaps that exist between cognitive science and business management, and (3) how cognitive science and business management may work to address government sector, national security needs.
Quality of Service and Message Aggregation in Delay-Tolerant Sensor Internetworks

We present traffic-shaping and message-aggregation algorithms that provide reservation-based quality-of-service mechanisms for delay-tolerant internetworks utilizing graph-based routing protocols. We define a Traffic Shaping with Contacts (TSC) method that alters the edge weights in a graph structure to represent service level specifications, rather than physical capacity. This adjustment allows existing routing mechanisms to implement bandwidth reservations without additional processing at the node. We define a Payload Aggregation and Fragmentation (PAF) algorithm that calculates preferred payload sizes over traffic-shaping contacts. PAF aggregates too-small payloads together and fragments too-large payloads to optimize contact capacities. Unlike other mechanisms, TSC/PAF are unaffected by heterogeneous physical, data-link, and transport layer protocols across an internetwork and require only minor modifications to internetwork-layer graph-routing frameworks. Simulation results show that together TSC/PAF reduce the number of messages in a sensor internetwork by 43 % while increasing the goodput of the network by 63 % over standard graph-routing techniques.
Multi-Resolution Classification Framework for Improving Land Use/Cover Mapping

Airborne and satellite remotely sensed data have been the major source for generating land use/cover maps. With the development of new remote sensing systems, hyper-spectral and very-high spatial resolution images will soon provide a source for continuously sampling of the earth surface from local, regional to global scales. A considerable amount of previous research has been devoted to exploring the magnitude and impact on image analysis when shifting scale from coarse to fine resolutions. This chapter presents a multi-resolution analysis and classification framework for selecting and integrating suitable information from different resolutions and analytical techniques into classification routines. The multi-resolution approaches were tested using simulated multi-resolution images for a portion of the rural-urban fringe of the San Diego Metropolitan area. We demonstrate that the multi-resolution classification approaches developed in this chapter can significantly improve landuse/cover classification accuracy when compared with those from single-resolution approaches.
Forging the Needed Dialogue Between Educational Leadership and Curriculum Inquiry: Placing Social Justice, Democracy, and Multicultural Perspectives into Practice

History demonstrates that the relationship between curriculum studies and educational leadership is mediated by the conceptualization of curriculum adopted within specific community contexts. To this end, we identify four conceptualizations of curriculum that have been effected in the USA and explore the varied relationship between our two fields that each context portends. Our analysis demonstrates that only when both fields of study have come together for the benefit of society, the common good, will the emergent leadership and curriculum result in progressive attempts at multiculturalism, democracy and social justice. Towards that end, we offer a developmental dialogical framework transitioning from relations grounded in stratification, homogenization, transformation, and the stage we call leadership for social justice. This progressive dialogue is ever more problematic, as it has to navigate multiple obstacles of temporal policies and politics as well as ideological divides. Thus, the complicated conversations are among those who seek to maintain old values and norms (e.g., stratification and homogenization) with those who take a counterview (transformation), or critical perspective (social justice).
Cricothyrotomy in Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Transport.

Abstract Objective Airway management is a requisite skill set for helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) providers. Cricothyrotomy is a potentially lifesaving skill that is used when other airway maneuvers fail. The authors reviewed all transports by a helicopter program in which cricothyrotomy was performed to assess the frequency, success, and technique. Methods This was a retrospective chart review of air medical patient records from an electronic medical record system over a 112-month period. Results During the study period, 22,434 patients were transported, 13 (.057%) of whom underwent cricothyrotomy. The typical patient was a male trauma victim with a mean Glasgow Coma Score of 5 transported from an accident scene with a mean age of 34.3 years. Six (46%) of the patients were alive at 24 hours. All patients (13/100%) received attempted endotracheal intubation; the mean number of attempts per patient was 2. The success rate was 100% with all patients ventilated via cricothyrotomy. Conclusion This study shows cricothyrotomy is a rarely performed skill but that HEMS providers are able to successfully learn the skill with proper training and oversight.
Rehabilitation Therapists’ Role in Management of Neuromuscular Disease

Symptom management of individuals with neuromuscular disease requires a specialized approach to rehabilitation management. Symptoms and rate of progression vary greatly among different conditions and individuals. Occupational, physical, and speech therapists have unique skills that are essential to multidisciplinary management of neuromuscular disease.
Combat Injury of the Sciatic Nerve - An Institutional Experience.

Introduction Combat injury of the sciatic nerve tends to be severe with variable but often profound consequences, is often associated with widespread soft tissue and bone injuries, significant neurologic impairment, severe neuropathic pain, and a prolonged recovery time. There is little contemporary data that describes the treatment and outcome of this significant military acquired peripheral nerve injury. We describe our institution's experience treating patients with combat-acquired sciatic nerve injury in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Materials and methods IRB approval was obtained, and a retrospective review was performed of the records of 5,137 combat-related extremity injuries between June 2007 and June 2015 to identify patients with combat-acquired sciatic nerve injury without traumatic amputation of the injured leg. The most common mechanisms of injury were gunshot wound to the upper thigh or pelvis, followed by blast injury. Thirteen patients were identified that underwent sciatic nerve exploration and repair. Nine patients had nerve repair using long-length acellular cadaveric allografts. Five patients underwent nerve surgery within 30 d of injury and eight had surgery on a delayed basis. The postoperative follow-up period was at least 2 yr. Results Reduction of neuropathic pain was significant, 7/10 points on the 11-point pain intensity numerical rating scale. Eight patients displayed electrodiagnostic evidence of reinnervation distal to the injury zone; however, functional recovery was poor, as only 3 of 10 patients had detectable motor units distal to the knee, and recovery was only in tibial nerve innervated muscles. There were no serious surgical complications, in particular, wound infection or graft rejection associated with long-length cadaver allograft placement. Conclusion Early surgery to repair sciatic nerve injury possibly promotes significant pain reduction, reduces narcotic usage and facilitates a long rehabilitation process. Allograft nerve placement is not associated with serious complications. A follow-up period longer than 3 yr would be required and is ongoing to assess the efficacy of our treatment of patients with combat-acquired sciatic nerve injury.
Conformational regulation of proteolysis in the extracellular matrix receptor dystroglycan

The adhesion receptor dystroglycan provides a critical mechanical link between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the actin cytoskeleton to help muscle cells withstand contraction and neural cells maintain the blood brain barrier. Disrupting the link results in diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy. Proteolysis of dystroglycan by Matrix Metalloproteases (MMPs) also breaks the mechanical link and is amplified in several pathogenic states. We use a combination of biochemical, cellular and, signaling assays to show that dystroglycan proteolysis is conformationally regulated by an extracellular, juxtamembrane proteolysis domain, comprised of tandem Ig-like and SEA-like domains. The intact proteolysis domain is resistant to MMP cleavage, but structurally-disruptive disease-related mutations or domain truncations sensitize dystroglycan to proteolysis. Moreover, increased dystroglycan proteolysis correlates with faster cell migration, suggesting a role for abnormal proteolysis in disease pathogenesis. Finally, we find that the dystroglycan proteolysis domain can functionally substitute for the Notch proteolytic switch in the context of a Notch signaling assay, hinting at a role for mechanical force in regulating dystroglycan proteolysis.
Measuring Stability of Feature Selection in Biomedical Datasets

An important step in the analysis of high-dimensional biomedical data is feature selection. Typically, a feature subset selected by a feature selection method is evaluated for relevance towards a task such as prediction or classification. Another important property of a feature selection method is stability that refers to robustness of the selected features to perturbations in the data. In biomarker discovery, for example, domain experts prefer a parsimonious subset of features that are relatively robust to slight changes in the data. We present a stability measure called the adjusted stability measure that computes robustness of a feature selection method with respect to random feature selection. This measure is useful for comparing the robustness of feature selection methods and is superior to similar measures that do not account for random feature selection. We demonstrate the application of this measure on a biomedical dataset.
Inference for goodness-of-fit problems with nuisance parameters

Abstract Signal detection problems are treated in the context of several Gaussian and non-Gaussian stochastic processes with one or more nuisance parameters. The techniques all entail a basic data transformation and the use of a Kolmogorov-type statistic on oneor more components of the transformed data. Extraneous statistical noise and randomized rank statistics are employed.
A Brief History of Legged Robotics

Research in the area of legged robotic systems has spanned almost the entire history of modern robotics. IFToMM has played a crucial role in this history by providing a channel of communication between East and West during the cold war period, and via its Technical Committee on Robotics in more recent years. In this chapter we have attempted an overview of what has become a vigorous field of research.
The extended Graetz problem with Dirichlet wall boundary conditions

The extension of the Graetz problem to include axial conduction has been of interest in view of its application to a number of low Peclet number heat or mass transfer situations. Past efforts in dealing with this problem have been plagued with uncertainties arising from expansion in terms of “eigenfunctions” and “eigenvalues” belonging to a nonselfadjoint operator. The uncertainties spring from a lack of basis for the assumptions that no complex eigenvalues exist and that the calculated eigenvectors originate from a complete set. Other methods have been entirely numerical.
Evryscopes North and South: hardware to science

The Evryscope is a two-dozen-camera gigapixel-scale robotic telescope, which continuously images 8,000 square degrees in 2-minute exposures. The photometric performance reaches 5-10 millimag levels on a bright stars, depending on cadence, and on fainter objects is sufficient to detect planets around nearby cool main sequence stars and a host of other objects including eclipsing binaries, stellar activity, and microlensing events. The telescope also provides fast cadence observations necessary for detecting minute time-scale exoplanet transits, which would occur around small, compact host stars including white dwarfs and hot subdwarfs. The Evryscope South has been collecting data continuously since deployment to CTIO in mid-2015, and has produced millions of images and 100s of terabytes of data. Evryscope North is under construction and will be deployed to Mt. Laguna observatory in partnership with San Diego State University (SDSU) in late 2018. We present the instrument design, construction, solutions to unique challenges, results of ongoing surveys including searches for exoplanets in exotic star systems, a gas giant exoplanet candidate, low-mass stellar companion discoveries, and stellar activity characterization.