cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations

The aim of this article is to review the current literature examining the use of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy for management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. Procalcitonin is a serum marker that rises in response to bacterial infections, but remains low in nonbacterial infections and other proinflammatory conditions. To date, there are four randomized clinical trials which compare procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy to standard therapy in patients with COPD exacerbations. In all four trials the use of procalcitonin was associated with a reduction in antibiotic use (prescription and/or duration) without an increase in the rates of adverse patient outcomes including death, admission to the intensive care unit, re-exacerbation and readmission to the hospital. This data is clinically significant and suggests that the use of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy has the potential to decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in nonbacterial COPD exacerbations, thereby curtailing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, reducing antibiotic-related adverse reactions, including Clostridium difficile infection, and potentially reducing healthcare costs.
Correlates of Self-Rated Health among Muslims in the United States:

Despite the large and growing population of Muslims in the United States, a paucity of research exists on the variables that may impact health status among members of this distinct cultural group. We address the lack of research by identifying correlates of self-rated health among a community sample of Muslims in the United States (N = 269). We examine the effects of demographic characteristics, health behaviors, psychological health, and contextual factors in the form of discrimination and spirituality. The results of our sequential logistic regression indicate that Muslims who were younger, married, had a graduate degree, and prayed more frequently were more likely to report higher levels of self-rated health. Conversely, respondents who reported clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms and those who reported being singled out by law enforcement as a result of being a Muslim were more likely to report poorer self-rated health. We conclude by discussing the implications of the results for soc...
Thinking About God Causes Internal Reflection in Believers and Unbelievers of God

Previous research found that reflecting on God increased public self-awareness. There is, however, reason to expect that reflecting on God should also direct attention inward to the private self. Thus, this work examined whether priming God increases private self-awareness. The results showed that reflecting on God increased private self-awareness, irrespective of the belief in God, and the effect remained, even after controlling for trait levels of private self-awareness and state public self-awareness. Contrary to previous findings, reflecting on God did not increase public self-awareness. These findings provide a foundation for further research on a number of questions related to why God prompts internal reflection.
Real-Time Monitoring of Platelet Activation Using Quartz Thickness-Shear Mode Resonator Sensors

In this study, quartz thickness-shear mode (TSM) resonator sensors were adopted to monitor the process of platelet activation. Resting platelets adhering to fibrinogen-coated electrodes were activated by different concentrations of thrombin (1, 10, and 100 U/mL), and the corresponding electrical admittance spectra of TSM resonators during this process were recorded. Based on a bilayer-loading transmission line model of TSM resonators, the complex shear modulus (G' + jG″) and the average thickness (hPL) of the platelet monolayer at a series of time points were obtained. Decrease in thrombin concentration from 100 to 1 U/mL shifted all peaks and plateaus in G', G″, and hPL to higher time points, which could be attributed to the partial activation of platelets by low concentrations of thrombin. The peak value of hPL was acquired when platelets presented their typical spherical shape as the first transformation in activation process. The G' peak appeared 10 ∼ 20 min after hPL peak, when some filopods were observed along the periphery of platelets but without obvious cell spreading. As platelet spreading began and continued, G', G″, and hPL decreased, leading to a steady rise of resonance frequency shift of TSM resonator sensors. The results show high reliability and stability of TSM resonator sensors in monitoring the process of platelet activation, revealing an effective method to measure platelet activities in real-time under multiple experimental conditions. The G', G″, and hPL values could provide useful quantitative measures on platelet structure variations in activation process, indicating potential of TSM resonators in characterization of cells during their transformation.
Transformation of Prostacyclin (PGI2) to a Biologically Active Metabolite: 5(6)-Oxido-PGI1 by Cytochrome P450-Dependent Epdxygenase

The renal epoxygenase has been demonstrated to be an active pathway for the conversion of PGI2 to a new, previously unreported, metabolite. This metabolite was isolated and identified by radiogas-chromatography-mass spectrometry as 5-hydroxy-6-keto PGF1α. Its structure was further confirmed by comparison of the mass-spectra to that of the synthetic standard. The formation of 5-hydroxy-6-keto PGF1α in the kidney suggested epoxidation of prostacyclin via the renal epoxygenase as an alternative pathway of PGI2 metabolism.
Physiology-based Affect Recognition During Driving in Virtual Environment for Autism Intervention

Independent driving is believed to be an important factor of quality of life for individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In recent years, several computer technologies, particularly Virtual Reality (VR), have been explored to improve driving skills in this population. In this work a VR-based driving environment was developed for skill training for teenagers with ASD. Eight channels of physiological signals were recorded in real time for affect recognition during driving. A large set of physiological features were investigated to determine their correlation with four categories of affective states: engagement, enjoyment, frustration and boredom, of teenagers with ASD. In order to have reliable reference points to link the physiological data with the affective states, the subjective reports from a therapist were recorded and analyzed. Six well-known classifiers were used to develop physiology-based affect recognition models, which yielded reliable predictions. These models could potentially be used in future physiology-based adaptive driving skill training system such that the system could adapt based on individual affective states.
Immigration, language proficiency, and autobiographical memories: Lifespan distribution and second-language access

This investigation examined two controversies in the autobiographical literature: how cross-language immigration affects the distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan and under what circumstances language-dependent recall is observed. Both Spanish/English bilingual immigrants and English monolingual non-immigrants participated in a cue word study, with the bilingual sample taking part in a within-subject language manipulation. The expected bump in the number of memories from early life was observed for non-immigrants but not immigrants, who reported more memories for events surrounding immigration. Aspects of the methodology addressed possible reasons for past discrepant findings. Language-dependent recall was influenced by second-language proficiency. Results were interpreted as evidence that bilinguals with high second-language proficiency, in contrast to those with lower second-language proficiency, access a single conceptual store through either language. The final multi-level model predicting language-dependent recall, including second-language proficiency, age of immigration, internal language, and cue word language, explained ¾ of the between-person variance and (1)/5 of the within-person variance. We arrive at two conclusions. First, major life transitions influence the distribution of memories. Second, concept representation across multiple languages follows a developmental model. In addition, the results underscore the importance of considering language experience in research involving memory reports.
Unsupervised Sub-graph Selection and Its Application in Face Recognition Techniques

One of the limitations of the existing face recognition algorithms is that the recognition rate significantly decreases with the increase in dataset size. In order to eliminate this shortcoming, this paper presents a new training dataset partitioning methodology to improve face recognition for large datasets. This methodology is then applied to the Eigenface algorithm as one of the algorithms that suffer from this problem. The algorithm represents the training face images as a fully connected graph. This graph is then divided into simpler sub-graphs to enhance the overall recognition rate. The sub-graphs are generated dynamically, and a comparison between different sub-graph selection techniques including minimizing edge weight sums, random selection, and maximizing sum of edge weights inside the sub-graph are provided. It is concluded that the optimized hierarchical dynamic technique increased the recognition rate by more than 40 percent in a large benchmark image dataset compared to the original single large graph method. Furthermore, the developed technique is compatible with several other unsupervised face recognition techniques such as ICA, KPCA, RBM, SIFT, and LBP... etc., and other datasets, specially if the number of images per person in the training data are low.
Imaging pores in sedimentary rocks: Foundation of porosity prediction

Abstract This review examines the history and current practice of technologies for imaging of pores in sedimentary rocks. Pores are that portion of the rock volume occupied by components of relative mobility such as water of various salinities, microbial life, petroleum liquids, gases, and supercritical fluids. Through a rock's history the contained pores evolve as the primary detrital assemblage responds chemically and mechanically to changing conditions in the subsurface. Description and classification of pores based upon their paragenesis depends upon inspection by imaging that allows the pores to be seen and interpreted in the context of historical processes responsible for formation of the pore walls. Since the late 1960s, sample preparation and imaging methodologies that clarified our understanding of pores in their correct historical context have been at the root of important advances in prediction of porosity and related bulk properties in the subsurface. These older approaches are now joined by new technologies that serve current efforts to extend predictive capabilities to nm-scale pores in the fine-grained, low-permeability rocks that dominate in the deeper parts of sedimentary basins, and indeed, in the sedimentary record as a whole. Placing the smallest pores into their proper paragenetic context presents a challenge in the quest to develop predictive models for porosity evolution in fine-grained rocks.
Limited diversity sparks inflammation at the mucosal border

Immune deficiency is a clear risk for out-of-control microbial growth. Unexpectedly, many immune deficiency diseases also place patients at risk for aggressive autoimmune attack despite their low lymphocyte numbers. Now a new report from Rigoni and colleagues may have tied these features together,
A Revision of Acanthinus (Coleoptera: Anthicidae). VII

Seven species-groups and 16 species are treated. The groups and included species are: Dromedarius-group– dromedarins (LaFerte) (=Liobaulius subtropicus Casey, L. lulingensis Casey, NEW SYNONYMY), vinculatus (La-Ferte), and bordoni from Venezuela and Panama; Fimbriatus-group– fimbriatus from Brazil; Solus-group– solus from Brazil; Grossoanus-group– grossoanus (Pic); Ebeninus-group– ebeninus (LaFerte) and bicallosus (Pic); Foveiventris-group– foveiventris (Champion) and crassicornis (Champion); Quinquemaculatus-group– quinquemaculatus (LaFerte), concinnus (LaFerte), pulchellus (Champion), troglodytes (Boheman), septemnotatus (Champion), and invitus from Costa Rica.
Crystallographic Data and Refractive Indices of Scapolites

Scapolites of intermediate composition show sharp b-reflections (h + k + I +2n), in addition to the a-type (h + k + I - 2n), thus establishing P4e/n as a possible space grotp. I4/m was found at both sodic and calcic end members. New cell parameters, determined with Guinier methods, and refractive indices are reported. Determinative charts based on cell dimensions, d-spacings and refractive indices allow estimation of meionite content within about -+7 percent. Regression of cell parameters on chemical data reveals several possible regression models. Treating the whole group as a single population works best for refractive indices, which can be predicted mostly within -r.002. On the other hand, cell parameter regression on composition is best treated assuming two different populations, one on each side of 65-66 percent meionite; predicted cell dimensions are usually within r-.003 A. The possibility of limited miscibility gaps in intermediate scapolites is discussed. P-group specimens, at least, cannot be considered an ideal solid-solution series.
Expert system of flooding pipeline network alteration design based on simulation of oilfield production process

Application of expert system alteration design on oilfield fl ooding pipeline network has been introduced in this paper. The correspond to oil field experience expert system knowledge base and expression have been establish ed, positive and negative mixed inference control strategies have been designed in this system. According to the conditions of production process, the schemes o f alteration design have been put forward. These cases have showed that best sch eme can be selected by the expert system. As a result flooding efficiency has be en enhanced and flooding radium has been reduced. The expert system has been bec ame a important tool for alteration design of oilfield flooding pipeline network .
Determination of four antibiotics and clenbuterol in livestock tissue by HPCL

Objective:To establish a liqiud chromatographic method for determining clenbuterol and four antibiotics including oxytetracline,tetracycline,auermycin,chlortetracycline in livestock tissue.Methods:The protein in animal was precipitated by 50% trichlovoacetic acid,clenbuterol and the 4 antibiotics were extracted by ultrasonic and centrifuging,then go through solid-phase extraction cartridge to revive-sample-wash-elute,liqiud chromatographic method(main condition).Results:The minimal detectable limits of the method are 0.6 ng for oxytetracline,0.8 ng for tetracycline,0.6 ng for auermycin,1.25 ng for chlortetracycline,1.25 ng for clenbuterol.the recoveries of oxytetracline,tetracycline,auermycin,chlortetracycline and clenbuterol are 83.8%～93.6%,86.2%～93.9%,75.7%～96.1%,81.3%～94.4%,85.4%～93.8%.Conclusion:The method is simple,reliable and practical.
Epidemiologic situation of rabies in Yangshuo, Guangxi

Objective To analyze the epidemic features of rabies,and provide effective strategy for the disease prevention and control. Method The epidemic data of rabies during 1956-2009 were collected and analyzed. Results A total of 200 of cases from 9 townships of the county were reported between 1956-2009.The mortality rate was 100% and the highest annual morbidity reached to 7.47%.The ratio of male to female subjects was 4.6,and the age was ranged from 4 to 79 years old. Elderly (above 60 years old) individual was the high risk group. Most of the patients were farmers. 85.71% victims didn't treat the wound.Cases were found all-year round in which most of them accounting for 62.5% were grangers.The patients, account for 85.17%, did not receive the necessary treatment for the broken skin, and who were not treated promptly reaching 14.29%.And 85.17% of the patients did not receive the necessary rabies immunization. Conclusion The keys to reduce rabies incidents were strengthening of the management of dogs,promotion of the education of rabies,standardizing the treatment of broken skin and enhancing the vaccination against rabies.
On the Connections of W Algebras from Different Reductions of WZNW Theory

The possible isomorphic relations between W algebras from various conformal reductions of WZNW model are investigated and the criterion for the isomorphism of W algebrasis given. In the special case of sl_3 WZNW theory, we show explicitly the isomorphism between W[(111)_2] and W[(12)_1] and discuss the constraint-gauge condition transmutation between the O'Raifeartaigh gauges and the transmutation of conformal weights under the isomorphism transformation.
Bosses in the Bedroom: Religious Employers and the Future of Employer-Sponsored Health Care

This chapter uses the controversy over mandated contraceptive coverage in employer health plans as a jumping-off point to do two things: (1) evaluate the proper scope of religion in the workplace — not among employees, but rather employers; and (2) assess the implications for employers’ role in their employees’ health care more generally, via employer-sponsored health insurance. We argue that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), when properly construed, is capable of facilitating an appropriate balance between the religious beliefs of employers and their employees. However, what these conflicts over contraceptives coverage demonstrate is yet another reason to view the current system of relying heavily on employer-based health insurance as deeply flawed. More specifically, even as strong supporters of women’s reproductive freedom, we maintain that employers legally need not — and ethically should not — always be required to check their religious beliefs at the door. Instead, we argue that society should support and even encourage “employers with a conscience” in a wide range of circumstances, although not without exception. The problem, in our view, is not the extension of statutory protections of religious freedom to for-profit employers or even extension of such protections to complicity rather than direct action. Instead, the unique contribution of this chapter, beyond contextualizing the reasons why it is often important to support religious employers in the secular sphere, is to highlight a heretofore overlooked problem that the contraceptive coverage cases have laid bare. These cases have been substantially debated in terms of religious freedom and reproductive rights, but on our view, one of their most important features is demonstration of a serious difficulty associated with relying on a system of employer-sponsored health insurance: namely, that the system, by its very nature, opens the door for bosses to enter their workers’ bedrooms, and other private decision-making spaces. Nonetheless, we recognize that the American system appears unwilling to abandon employer-sponsored health insurance altogether, and in fact, seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
Substance-Treatment Professionals' Perceived Barriers to Incorporating Mindfulness Into Treatment.

ABSTRACTBackground: Despite scientific favor, psychological interventions supported by research are often underutilized by practitioners due to perceived obstacles in implementation. Increased transparency between researchers and practitioners throughout treatment development and dissemination is therefore necessary. The rising popularity of mindfulness-based approaches in the treatment of substance-use disorders suggests such transparency is necessary in further developing, disseminating, and implementing such approaches within the context of substance treatment. Objectives: The present study aimed to increase transparency by surveying substance-treatment professionals regarding their perceptions of barriers to adopting mindfulness in the treatment of substance use. Methods: Substance-treatment professionals throughout the United States (N = 103) completed an online survey about their perceptions of potential barriers to implementing mindfulness into substance treatment. Results: Overall, professionals w...
Fifty-Three Years a Tadpole

Abstract The first section of this perspective explains how my early years shaped my thought processes, how I was shoved into academia, and how I stumbled onto a track to employment, tenure, and retirement at a single university. I always sought a broad education to support studies of mostly descriptive biology that were driven by my curiosity and the diversity of the amphibian life cycle. In that regard, I experienced the benefits of being gainfully employed without just having a job. The second section highlights my graduate students, collaborations, and research focus on larval amphibians at Mississippi State University. I felt it was my responsibility to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for their choices of life's pursuits. At the end, I try to think about the future study of larval amphibians, and based on technological advances and the sporadic insights of a few lucky persons, I am optimistic about what will happen.
The Culture of Patient Safety Practice: Systematic Review

Abstract Introduction Regulations and guidelines are essential components of maintaining safety in multiple industries. In health care these processes exist to help distinguish weaknesses in patient care and identify adverse events. We review the processes that have been established in health care to promote the culture of patient safety. Methods Sources were acquired through the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) database using the keywords “safety,” “World Health Organization” and “Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.” Other sources were obtained through research into specific safety processing topics of industrial and nonindustrial institutions. Results The organizational properties of patient care expand beyond the number of incidents an institution experiences and include standardized safety values for specific patient care procedures. Tools such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), Reason’s Swiss cheese model and the general guidelines established by the WHO have been used to detect and reduce the likelihood of errors in patient practice. These tools also demonstrate the importance of adopting regulated checklists and protocols that are essential at every stage of patient care. Conclusions While various systems have been implemented throughout the health care industry to overcome processing weaknesses, a continued display of effectiveness and improvement of current subspecialty specific guidelines are necessary for the assurance of safety in contemporary patient care.
Epigenetic transcriptional memory

Organisms alter gene expression to adapt to changes in environmental conditions such as temperature, nutrients, inflammatory signals, and stress (Gialitakis et al. in Mol Cell Biol 30:2046-2056, 2010; Conrath in Trends Plant Sci 16:524-531, 2011; Avramova in Plant J 83:149-159, 2015; Sole et al. in Curr Genet 61:299-308, 2015; Ho and Gasch in Curr Genet 61:503-511, 2015; Bevington et al. in EMBO J 35:515-535, 2016; Hilker et al. in Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 91:1118-1133, 2016). In some cases, organisms can "remember" a previous environmental condition and adapt to that condition more rapidly in the future (Gems and Partridge 2008). Epigenetic transcriptional memory in response to a previous stimulus can produce heritable changes in the response of an organism to the same stimulus, quantitatively or qualitatively altering changes in gene expression (Brickner et al. in PLoS Biol, 5:e81, 2007; Light et al. in Mol Cell 40:112-125, 2010; in PLoS Biol, 11:e1001524, 2013; D'Urso and Brickner in Trends Genet 30:230-236, 2014; Avramova in Plant J 83:149-159, 2015; D'Urso et al. in Elife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.16691 , 2016). The role of chromatin changes in controlling binding of poised RNAPII during memory is conserved from yeast to humans. Here, we discuss epigenetic transcriptional memory in different systems and our current understanding of its molecular basis. Our recent work with a well-characterized model for transcriptional memory demonstrated that memory is initiated by binding of a transcription factor, leading to essential changes in chromatin structure and allowing binding of a poised form of RNA polymerase II to promote the rate of future reactivation (D'Urso et al. in Elife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.16691 , 2016).
Parents as Language Trainers of Children with Autism

We are all language trainers. Like the character in Moliere’s play who learns that “for more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing it,” so too have all of us been teaching language all along, although it has taken us a while to find that out. Children acquire speech with such apparent ease and delight that we pay little attention to the role we play in tutoring them in language. The seeming simplicity of this acquisition makes all the more frustrating and puzzling the inability of autistic children and others with severe communication handicaps to learn to speak.
Evaluating Sustainability Initiatives on University Campuses: A Case Study from the University of Michigan’s Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program

The Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program (SCIP) is a multi-year program intended to inform University officials and others responsible for day-to-day operations including assessments of new sustainability initiatives. Following a brief review of ways in which SCIP data have been used by operations personnel at the University, a detailed discussion of one sustainability initiative and the use of SCIP data to assess its effectiveness is presented. The sustainability initiative deals with an expansion of composting in University residence halls beyond their dining facilities. A trial outreach program is introduced in one of the University’s 17 undergraduate residence halls is described together with a plan for evaluating its outcomes using SCIP data. The results of the evaluation will help determine if and in what ways a composting program should be extended other residence halls. Outcomes from such sustainability trials can be helpful to university officials in determining the extent to which new sustainability initiatives are successful, whether or how they should be modified, and whether they should be implemented throughout other parts of the university, or discontinued.
PTEN assessment and PI3K/mTOR inhibitors: Importance of simultaneous assessment of MAPK pathway aberrations.

10510 Background: Loss of PTEN function increases PI3K/mTOR signaling. Preclinical data suggest that PTEN aberrations can predict sensitivity to drugs targeting the PI3K/mTOR pathway. Methods: Tumo...
CT Texture Analysis: Definitions, Applications, Biologic Correlates, and Challenges.

CT texture analysis of tumor heterogeneity has shown promise in lesion characterization, pretreatment tumor assessment, and response evaluation for some tumor types and may also have a spectrum of potential nononcologic applications, including assessment of hepatic and pulmonary fibrosis; however, a variety of challenges, including standardization of segmentation/measurement, postprocessing, and reporting, as well as ongoing delineation of pathologic correlates, need to be resolved before widespread implementation.
Convolutional Neural Network Based Localized Classification of Uterine Cervical Cancer Digital Histology Images.

In previous research, we introduced an automated localized, fusion-based algorithm to classify squamous epithelium into Normal, CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3 grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The approach partitioned the epithelium into 10 segments. Image processing and machine vision algorithms were used to extract features from each segment. The features were then used to classify the segment and the result was fused to classify the whole epithelium. This research extends the previous research by dividing each of the 10 segments into 3 parts and uses a convolutional neural network to classify the 3 parts. The result is then fused to classify the segments and the whole epithelium. The experimental data consists of 65 images. The proposed method accuracy is 77.25% compared to 75.75% using the previous method for the same dataset.
Does the Podcast Video Playback Speed Affect Comprehension for Novel Curriculum Delivery? A Randomized Trial.

Author(s): Song, Kristine; Chakraborty, Amit; Dawson, Matthew; Dugan, Adam; Adkins, Brian; Doty, Christopher | Abstract: Introduction: Medical education is a rapidly evolving field that has been using new technology to improve how medical students learn. One of the recent implementations in medical education is the recording of lectures for the purpose of playback at various speeds. Though previous studies done via surveys have shown a subjective increase in the rate of knowledge acquisition when learning from sped-up lectures, no quantitative studies have measured information retention. The purpose of this study was to compare mean test scores on written assessments to objectively determine if watching a video of a recorded lecture at 1.5x speed was significantly different than 1.0x speed for the immediate retention of novel material.Methods: Fifty-four University of Kentucky medical students volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were divided into two separate groups: Group A and Group B. Each group watched two separate videos, the first at 1.5x speed and the second at 1.0x speed, then completed assessments following each. The topics of the two videos were ultrasonography artifacts and transducers. Group A watched the artifacts video first at 1.5x speed followed by the transducers video at 1.0x speed. Group B watched the transducers video first at 1.5x speed followed by the artifacts video at 1.0x speed. The percentage correct on the written assessment were calculated for each subject at each video speed. The mean and standard deviation were also calculated using a t-test to determine if there was a significant difference in assessment scores between 1.5x and 1.0x speeds.Results: There was a significant (p=0.0188) detriment in performance on the artifacts quiz at 1.5x speed (mean 61.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]-53.9, 68.9) compared to the control group at normal speed (mean 72.7; 95% CI- 66.8, 78.6). On the transducers assessment, there was not a significant (p=0.1365) difference in performance in the 1.5x speed group (mean 66.9; CI- 59.8, 74.0) compared to the control group (mean 73.8; CI- 67.7, 79.8).Conclusion: These findings suggest that, unlike previously published studies that showed subjective improvement in performance with sped-up video-recorded lectures compared to normal speed, objective performance may be worse. [West J Emerg Med. 2017;1(4)–0.]
The cranial nerve vascular compression syndrome: II. A review of pathophysiology.

The various hypotheses regarding the pathophysiologies of trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm are reviewed, and the results of recent physiological studies on the pathogenesis of hemifacial spasm are discussed. Evidence is presented that strongly supports the hypothesis that the symptoms and signs of hemifacial spasm are caused by hyperactivity in the facial motonucleus. Some of the contradictions regarding the prevalence of vascular conflicts in the cerebellopontine angle and the symptoms of vascular compression are discussed, and a hypothesis is presented that assumes that a suitable substrate must be present, in addition to vascular compression of the respective cranial nerve root, for the symptoms and signs of a cranial nerve vascular compression disorder to develop. Finally, it is discussed how this hypothesis can explain some of the differences between the disorders that can be cured by microvascular deompression of respective cranial nerves.
HRTeam: a framework to support research on human/multi-robot interaction

The HRTeam framework supports research on discovering and evaluating methods for addressing a range of issues in human/multi-robot team interaction. Three sample tasks illustrate the methods currently being investigated: mission selection, dictated by a human operator; collision avoidance, taught by a human trainer; and targeted exploration, jointly achieved with a human collaborator. Physical and simulated multi-robot environments are used to support this research.
What can be measured from surface electrogastrography: Computer simulations

The aims of this study were to investigate the detectability of the propagation of the gastric slow wave from the cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) and the patterns of the EGG when the gastric slow waves are uncoupled. A mathematical model was established based on the volume conductor theory to simulate the transfer of the serosal gastric slow wave from the stomach to the abdominal surface. A number of computer simulations were conducted using the model, and the periodic cross-correlation function was used to estimate the phase shift between the four channels. It was found that the propagation of the gastric slow wave was detectable from the multichannel EGG signals. The detectability of the propagation was, however, associated with a number of factors, such as the thickness of the abdominal wall and the propagation velocity of the serosal slow wave. The amplitude of the EGG was found to be associated with the coupling/uncoupling and propagation velocity of the gastric slow wave. The amplitude of the EGG increased when the propagation velocity of the gastric slow wave increased. The amplitude of the EGG was substantially decreased when the gastric slow waves were uncoupled. The uncoupling of the gastric slow wave at a frequency of 3 cpm produced dysrhythmias in the EGG, including tachygastria, bradygastria, and arrhythmia. The power spectra of simulated different positional EGG signals showed similar patterns when the gastric slow wave was coupled and different and unpredictable patterns when the gastric slow wave was uncoupled. In conclusion, multichannel EGG recordings may be necessary to obtain more information on gastric slow waves from the abdominal electrodes. The propagation and coupling or uncoupling of the gastric slow wave may be detected from multichannel EGG recordings.
Fertility Theory: Caldwell's Theory of Intergenerational Wealth Flows

John Caldwell's wealth flows theory proposes a direct link between family structure and fertility. In ‘primitive’ and ‘traditional’ societies with net upward wealth flows, the economically rational decision is to have as many surviving children as possible (within the constraints imposed by biology), because each additional child adds positively to a parent's wealth, security in old age, and social and political well- being. In ‘modern’ industrial societies with net downward wealth flows, the economically rational decision is to have no children or the minimum number allowed by a psychological disposition that derives pleasure from children and parenting. The transition from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ fertility and family structure occurs when a critical mass of individuals adopt the new values, and respond with low fertility. The attainment of mass education in a country should therefore precipitate and predict the fertility transition. The most serious challenge to this theory has come from evolutionary biologists. The argument that prior to modernization, upward wealth flows characterized human family structures is inherently antithetical to theory in evolutionary biology. There is no direct quantitative evidence of net-upward wealth flows in any traditional high-fertility society. The wealth flows theory of fertility transition is a major contribution to demography. The theory helped to lay the groundwork for theories of the family to become a major perspective within the field of demography, and broadened the scope of demography by directing attention to culture.
Cerebral blood flow effects in long-term meditators

375 Objectives: We have studied a number of subjects who are long term practitioners of various meditation practices. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in the baseline brain function of experienced meditators compared to a similar control group of non-meditators. Methods: All subjects were recruited as part of an ongoing study of different meditation practices. Subjects received a baseline scan with their eyes closed and ears unoccluded. We evaluated 12 advanced meditation subjects and 21 non-meditators with cerebral blood flow(CBF) SPECT imaging. After approximately 10 minutes at rest, they were injected with 250MBq of Tc-99m ECD or HMPAO, rested quietly for another 10 minutes, and then were scanned on a Picker 3000XP triple head camera for 40 minutes. All scans were resliced and aligned in the same plane. A previously validated region of interest (ROI) analysis was used to measure the counts in various cortical and subcortical regions, which were normalized to the whole brain activity to calculate a CBF ratio. A laterality index was calculated using the formula: [100x(R-L)]/[(1/2)(R+L)]. The meditator and non-meditator scans were compared using unpaired t-tests. Results: The CBF ratios of meditators was significantly higher (p
Abstract P041: A Novel Preclinical Strategy for Identifying Cardiotoxic Kinase Inhibitors and Mechanisms of Cardiotoxicity

Rationale: 1) Despite intense interest in strategies to predict which tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cancer therapeutics may be associated with cardiotoxicity, current approaches are inadequate. 2) Sorafenib is a TKI of concern since it inhibits growth factor receptors and Raf-1/B-Raf, kinases that are upstream of ERKs and signal cardiomyocyte survival in the setting of stress. Objectives: 1) Explore the potential use of zebrafish as a pre-clinical model to predict cardiotoxicity. 2) Determine whether sorafenib has associated cardiotoxicity and, if so, define the mechanisms. Methods and Results: We find that the zebrafish model is readily able to discriminate a TKI with little or no cardiotoxicity (gefitinib) from one with demonstrated cardiotoxicity (sunitinib). Sorafenib, like sunitinib, leads to cardiomyocyte apoptosis, contractile dysfunction and ventricular dilatation in zebrafish. In cultured rat cardiomyocytes, sorafenib induces cell death. This can be rescued by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of constitutively active MEK1 which restores ERK activity even in the presence of sorafenib. While growth factor-induced activation of ERKs requires Raf, α-adrenergic-induced activation of ERKs does not. Consequently, activation of α-adrenergic signaling virtually abrogates sorafenib-induced cell death. Consistently, inhibition of α-adrenergic signaling with prazosin augments sorafenib-induced contractile dysfunction in zebrafish. Conclusions: 1) Zebrafish may be a valuable pre-clinical tool to predict cardiotoxicity. 2) We identify a here-to-fore unknown pathway that bypasses Raf to activate ERKs, thereby limiting sorafenib cardiotoxicity. Importantly, given that the majority of men over the age of 60 have prostatic hypertrophy, for which α-adrenergic antagonists are the primary therapy, our findings suggest the consequences of the concomitant use of these agents with sorafenib should be explored.
Development and Experimental Testing of Microstrip Patch Antenna-Inspired RF Probes for 14 T MRI Scanners

Radio frequency (RF) probes for ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems were developed from structures inspired by microstrip patch antennas. The patch structures provide an alternative to conventional surface coils. We show that these structures, operating as resonators, can produce strong magnetic fields, which act as B1 fields in MRI studies. The addition of high permittivity inserts to the patch substrate was beneficial for increasing B1 field uniformity. It was also shown by simulations that two vis-a-vis placed identical patches fed with 180° phase difference could produce uniform B1 field in the space between patches and could be used as volume RF probes. This possibility was confirmed by experiments with fabricated prototypes in the VARIAN 14.1 T MRI scanner. We further show that the B1 uniformity is enhanced over larger volume with properly profiled substrates of higher permittivity, along with smaller radiation losses. These probes were found competitive and even advantageous in comparison with birdcage coils because of better stability of their Q-factors at loading by lossy phantoms. Thus, patch-based probes offer a viable alternative to RF probes for ultrahigh field MRI.
Derivation of a Low-Cycle Fatigue Relationship Employing the J-Integral Approach to Crack Growth

Some recent results from investigations in nonlinear fracture mechanics centering about the J-integral are utilized to derive a low-cycle fatigue relationship. The derived relationship has the form of the well-known Coffin-Manson equation, but differs from it in that the controlling variable is predicted to be applied strain energy density rather than plastic strain range. This predicted controlling variable appears to closely parallel several energy-related functions proposed during the past 15 year period.
Crafting better team climate: the benefits of using creative methods during team initiation

This study employs a mixed methods approach to investigate the effect of creative methods, the combinative use of model building and storytelling, during team initiation on team climate, a critical people-related factor in the management of collective innovation work. Qualitative analysis provides empirical evidence that creative methods benefit team initiation by raising participative confidence, engagement with the social environment as well as the team activities, friendly competition among team members, and by reducing fear of failure and habitual thinking. We also find support that the use of creative methods initiates and supports the development of positive team climate over the span of a team's life. A quantitative comparison with two control groups using the 14-item team climate inventory (TCI) 13 weeks after the team initiation indicates that the test group has significantly higher values in all dimensions of the TCI than the two control groups. Overall, this examination informs the work of innovation managers and scholars with vital insights about the effectiveness of using creative methods during team initiation.
Psychological Treatments to Improve Outcomes

The biopsychosocial model applies to pain medicine. There are complex psychological and social factors inherent in the pain experience which interacts with biological forces. Patients with chronic pain have a high incidence of psychological symptoms and distress leading to the diagnosis of mental disorders. Evaluation of the psychological state of a patient for purposes of treatment planning is essential and especially so when interventional pain treatments are considered. These steps ensure good patient care. There are many mental health treatment options for pain patients. Inclusion of a psychological component for patients with pain will improve outcomes of medical care and may limit further progression of the pain disorder.
INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION FOR PERSON-CENTERED CARE

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) occurs when health workers with varying educational preparation and skills work together to deliver quality health services – as no single health professional can have all the required knowledge and skills. Governments and health policy makers are always looking for better ways of delivering care and IPC offers a smart solution to do this. Interprofessional education (IPE), an related concept, is a prerequisite in preparing a “collaborative practice-ready” health workforce that is better prepared to respond to local health needs. In interprofessional education, health workers, at some point during their training, learn together in order to work together.
Origins of Irreversibility in Layered NaNixFeyMnzO2 Cathode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries.

Layered NaNixFeyMnzO2 cathode (NFM) is of great interest in sodium ion batteries because of its high theoretical capacity and utilization of abundant, low-cost, environmentally friendly raw materials. Nevertheless, there remains insufficient understanding on the concurrent local environment evolution in each transition metal (TM) that largely influences the reversibility of the cathode materials upon cycling. In this work, we investigate the reversibility of TM ions in layered NFMs with varying Fe contents and potential windows. Utilizing ex situ synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure of precycled samples, the valence and bonding evolution of the TMs are elucidated. It is found that Mn is electrochemically inactive, as indicated by the insignificant change of Mn valence and the Mn-O bonding distance. Fe is electrochemically inactive after the first five cycles. The Ni redox couple contributes most of the charge compensation for NFMs. Ni redox is quite reversible in the cathodes with less Fe content. However, the Ni redox couple shows significant irreversibility with a high Fe content of 0.8. The electrochemical reversibility of the NFM cathode becomes increasingly enhanced with the decrease of either Fe content or with lower upper charge cutoff potential.
Modeling the Impact of Riparian Hollows on River Corridor Nitrogen Exports

Author(s): Rogers, D Brian; Newcomer, Michelle E; Raberg, Jonathan H; Dwivedi, Dipankar; Steefel, Carl; Bouskill, Nicholas; Nico, Peter; Faybishenko, Boris; Fox, Patricia; Conrad, Mark; Bill, Markus; Brodie, Eoin; Arora, Bhavna; Dafflon, Baptiste; Williams, Kenneth H; Hubbard, Susan S | Abstract: Recent studies in snowmelt-dominated catchments have documented changes in nitrogen (N) retention over time, such as declines in watershed exports of N, though there is a limited understanding of the controlling processes driving these trends. Working in the mountainous headwater East River Colorado watershed, we explored the effects of riparian hollows as N-cycling hotspots and as important small-scale controls on observed watershed trends. Using a modeling-based approach informed by remote sensing and in situ observations, we simulated the N-retention capacity of riparian hollows with seasonal and yearly hydrobiogeochemical perturbations imposed as drivers. We then implemented a scaling approach to quantify the relative contribution of riparian hollows to the total river corridor N budget. We found that riparian hollows primarily serve as N sinks, with N-transformation rates significantly limited by periods of enhanced groundwater upwelling and promoted at the onset of rainfall events. Given these observed hydrologic controls, we expect that the nitrate (NO3-) sink capacity of riparian hollows will increase in magnitude with future climatic perturbations, specifically the shift to more frequent rainfall events and fewer snowmelt events, as projected for many mountainous headwater catchments. Our current estimates suggest that while riparian hollows provision ~5–20% of NO3- to the river network, they functionally act as inhibitors to upland NO3- reaching the stream. Our work linking transient hydrological conditions to numerical biogeochemical simulations is an important step in assessing N-retaining features relative to the watershed N budget and better understanding the role of small-scale features within watersheds.
Preparation of Abamectin Nanoparticles by Flash NanoPrecipitation for Extended Photostability and Sustained Pesticide Release

Abamectin has been widely used as a biopesticide to control pests, such as pinewood and root-knot nematodes. However, the low aqueous solubility and poor photostability of abamectin have largely hi...