cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of the Balance Error Scoring System with Mobile Technology.

PURPOSE: The aim of this project was to develop a biomechanically based quantification of the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) using data derived from the accelerometer and gyroscope of a mobile tablet device. METHODS: Thirty-two healthy young adults completed the BESS while an iPad was positioned at the sacrum. Data from the iPad were compared to position data gathered from a three-dimensional motion capture system. Peak-to-peak (P2P), normalized path length (NPL), and root mean squared (RMS) were calculated for each system and compared. Additionally, a 95% ellipsoid volume, iBESS volume, was calculated using center of mass (CoM) movements in the anteroposterior (AP), mediolateral (ML), and trunk rotation planes of movement to provide a comprehensive, 3D metric of postural stability. RESULTS: Across all kinematic outcomes, data from the iPad were significantly correlated with the same outcomes derived from the motion capture system (rho range, 0.37-0.94; P CONCLUSIONS: The kinematic data provided by the iPad are of sufficient quality relative to motion capture data to accurately quantify postural stability in healthy young adults. The iBESS volume provides a more sensitive measure of postural stability than error scoring alone, particularly in conditions 1 and 4, which often suffer from floor effects, and condition 5, which can experience ceiling effects. The iBESS metric is ideally suited for clinical and in the field applications in which characterizing postural stability is of interest. Language: en
Effect of vapor and residual chemosterilants on reproduction of adult Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila melanogaster Meigen were sterilized completely when exposed to vapors of 10.0 mg of tepa or metepa for 5 hr. but neither apholate nor tretamine at the same concentration induced complete sterility in either sex, when either sex was exposed to residues for 1 hour, the sterilizing dose of metepa or tepa was 0.20 mg/cm2, but neither sex was completely sterilized by exposure to apholate or tretamine residues at 0.20 mg/cm2 Also, the degree of sterility was related to the time of exposure to Chemosterilant vapors and to the time and concentration of residues. Chemosterilant effects of tepa and metepa residues were retained up to 30 days. The effect of apholate and tretamine decreased with the age of the residue.
SP0182 Research in Social Networks

With the exceedingly common use of social media, patients have easy access to helpful medical advice and community forums as well as access medical misinformation. Similarly, recruitment of patients for research studies via social networks has skyrocketed. The presentation will describe prior and existing RMD research using social networks and new methodological issues that have arisen from it. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
Virtual lightweight snapshots for consistent analytics in NoSQL stores

Increasingly, applications that deal with big data need to run analytics concurrently with updates. But bridging the gap between big and fast data is challenging: most of these applications require analytics' results that are fresh and consistent, but without impacting system latency and throughput. We propose virtual lightweight snapshots (VLS), a mechanism that enables consistent analytics without blocking incoming updates in NoSQL stores. VLS requires neither native support for database versioning nor a transaction manager. Besides, it is storage-efficient, keeping additional versions of records only when needed to guarantee consistency, and sharing versions across multiple concurrent snapshots. We describe an implementation of VLS in MongoDB and present a detailed experimental evaluation which shows that it supports consistency for analytics with small impact on query evaluation time, update throughput, and latency.
Results and analysis of the spherical 237Np critical experiment surrounded by highly enriched uranium hemispherical shells

An experiment to investigate the critical mass of 237 Np was performed at the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. The critical configuration consisted of a 6.07-kg neptunium sphere surrounded by 62.555 kg of highly enriched uranium hemispherical shells. The experiment was performed in order to decrease the large uncertainty in the critical mass of 237 Np for criticality safety and nonproliferation issues. The critical configuration had an experimental k eff of 1.003. Comparison of the experimental results with computational methods used to predict the k eff of the system led to identification of a large discrepancy in the 237 Np cross-section data from ENDF/B-VI used by the analysis performed with the MCNP code. In an effort to bound the uncertainty on the experimental k eff , a sensitivity analysis was performed. This analysis systematically examines uncertainties associated with the critical experiment as they affect the calculated multiplication factor. The systematic analysis is separated into uncertainties due to mass measurements, uncertainties due to geometry of materials, and uncertainties due to impurities. Each type of uncertainty is analyzed individually, and a total combined uncertainty is derived. The sensitivity analysis on this experiment yielded a total combined uncertainty on the measured k eff of ± 0.0032.
Erythropoietin-regulated oxidative stress negatively affects enucleation during terminal erythropoiesis.

Differentiating erythroblasts are exposed to an oxidative environment. The dynamics of oxidative status during terminal erythropoiesis and how they affect cell differentiation in response to erythropoietin (Epo) are unclear. Here, we show that Epo induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the early stages of terminal erythropoiesis. The levels of ROS correlate with CD71 surface expression and the uptake of iron and transferrin. ROS decreases in the late stages of terminal erythropoiesis, when the cells are preparing for enucleation. Consistently, treatment of erythroblasts with a low dose (5 mM) of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, promotes enucleation. However, a high dose (20 mM) of NAC leads to significant cell death. Our study reveals an important function of Epo in regulating the dynamics of oxidative status and enucleation.
Rounding Up Twice the Usual Number of Suspects

I was a police officer walking a beat in Vancouver’s Skid Road when I began my graduate studies. While originally interested in mathematics I wanted something more exciting for a career, so after finishing my B.A. I joined the Vancouver Police Department. I planned to pursue a master’s degree (and later a doctorate) in criminology; the idea was to use my police experience to inform my studies and for my graduate education to make me a better police officer. I believe I was successful on both counts.
Activity of the Arabidopsis RD29A and RD29B promoter elements in soybean under water stress

The constitutive and drought-induced activities of the Arabidopsis thaliana RD29A and RD29B promoters were monitored in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.] via fusions with the visual marker gene β-glucuronidase (GUS). Physiological responses of soybean plants were monitored over 9 days of water deprivation under greenhouse conditions. Data were used to select appropriate time points to monitor the activities of the respective promoter elements. Qualitative and quantitative assays for GUS expression were conducted in root and leaf tissues, from plants under well-watered and dry-down conditions. Both RD29A and RD29B promoters were significantly activated in soybean plants subjected to dry-down conditions. However, a low level of constitutive promoter activity was also observed in both root and leaves of plants under well-watered conditions. GUS expression was notably higher in roots than in leaves. These observations suggest that the respective drought-responsive regulatory elements present in the RD29X promoters may be useful in controlling targeted transgenes to mitigate abiotic stress in soybean, provided the transgene under control of these promoters does not invoke agronomic penalties with leaky expression when no abiotic stress is imposed.
Tracking Down the Corporate Crooks

President George W. Bush has reassured us that ‘From the antitrust laws of the 19th century to the S&L reforms of recent times, America has tackled financial problems when they appeared.’ But the Savings & Loan reforms came seven years and 150 billion taxpayer dollars late. Nor did that problem merely ‘appear’ It was created, by a deregulation bill in 1982, overseen at that time by the Vice President, the elder George Bush.
Higher law in the 1850s

On March 11, 1850, William H. Seward, former Governor of New York and future Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, gave his first speech before the Senate. Seward's topic was Henry Clay's proposed omnibus compromise bill, which included admission of California as a free state and a new, more potent Fugitive Slave Law. As oratory, Seward's speech was something of an anticlimax after Daniel Webster's performance in favor of the compromise four days earlier. As the scholarly, bespectacled Seward carefully and undramatically read his speech, the galleries rapidly emptied. Indeed in substance as well as performance, much of Seward's speech was not particularly provocative. Seward complained that, by lumping together very different pieces of legislation, such as the admission of California and the Fugitive Slave Act, Clay's compromise bill prevented separate consideration of each measure on its own merits. Echoing a theme in Webster's March 7 speech, Seward dismissed John Calhoun's anti-compromise argument that California's admission as a free state unfairly disrupted the sectional equilibrium essential to the South's partnership in the Union. The Union was not, Seward contended, a joint venture between independent sections. Given the unexceptional nature of his opening contentions and his colorless performance, many of those leaving the galleries early must have been surprised to learn of the firestorm of criticism ignited by Seward's comments on slavery and the Constitution.
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma on the Head and Neck.

Importance Metastasis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) to the nodal basin is associated with a poor prognosis. The role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for regional staging in patients diagnosed with SCC is unclear. Objective To evaluate a single institution’s experience with use of SLNB for regional staging of SCC on the head and neck. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective review of 53 patients who were diagnosed with SCC on the head and neck, at high risk for nodal metastasis based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk factors, and treated with wide local excision (WLE) and SLNB from December 1, 2010, through January 30, 2015, in a single academic referral center was performed. The follow-up period ended November 5, 2015. Sentinel lymph node biopsy paraffin blocks were retrieved and processed retrospectively with serial sectioning and immunohistochemical analysis (IHC) in cases with nodal recurrence following a negative SLNB. Main Outcomes and Measures Sentinel node (SN) identification rate, SLNB positivity rate, local recurrence, regional nodal recurrence, and distant recurrence. Results In 53 patients with 54 tumors the SN identification rate was 94%. The SLNB positivity rate was 11.3%. On more thorough tissue processing and IHC, metastatic SCC was identified in 2 of 5 (40%) cases previously deemed negative. After reclassification of these cases, the adjusted SLNB positivity rate was 15.1%. The adjusted rate of false omission was 7.1% (95% CI, 2%-19%). Nodal disease developed in 20.8% overall. Angiolymphatic invasion (Cohen d, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.83-5.21), perineural invasion (Cohen d, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.09-1.52), and clinical size (Cohen d, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.05-1.63) were associated with the presence of nodal disease. Conclusions and Relevance Rigorous study of SLNB for cutaneous SCC incorporating prospectively-collected comprehensive data sets based on standardized treatment algorithms is justified with potential to modify clinical practice. Our study demonstrates the critical importance of serial sectioning and IHC of the SLNB specimen for accurate diagnosis. Use of the NCCN guidelines may facilitate identification of patients with SCC at high risk for nodal metastasis.
Developing an ontology-supported information recommending system for scholars

This paper focused on developing an ontology-supported information recommending system for scholars. Not only can it fast integrate specific domain documents, but also it can extract important information from them to take information integration and recommendation ranking. The core technologies include: ontology-supported webpage crawler, webpage classifier, information extractor, information recommender, and a user integration interface. The preliminary experiment outcomes proved that the reliability and validation measurements of the whole system performance can achieve the high-level outcomes of information recommendation.
IL-17 in Host Defense

Many cell types including immune and nonimmune cells are able to produce IL-17 cytokines for host defense. In particular, innate immune cells such as γδT cells [1]. Recent studies indicate that γδT cells are the major initial IL-17 producers in acute infections [2]. Some γδT cells have IL-17-producing capacities without explicit induction of an immune response. These γδT cells preferentially reside in the skin and mucosal membranes [2]. Other innate immune cells producing IL-17 include NK, iNKT, mast cells, lymph tissue inducer (LTi) cells, group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) [3], and macrophages. Adoptive immune cells producing IL-17 include Th17 cells and Tc17 cells. Nonimmune cells include epithelial cells and keratinocytes, which are more likely for host defense. Adoptive immune cells producing IL-17 include Th17 cells and Tc17 cells. While CD8+ Tc17 cells are more likely to participate in host defense, CD4+ Th17 cells are more likely to participate in chronic inflammation in inflammatory diseases. ILC3 cells are found in the lung, gut, and skin. Currently, IL-17-producing ILC3 cells are often associated with inflammation [3–5], but their physiological property in host defense is not fully appreciated (Table 2.1) [6].
Tracking epileptic seizure activity via information theoretic graphs

This work introduces an algorithm for localization of the seizure onset zone (SOZ) of epileptic patients based on electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings. The algorithm represents the set of electrodes using a directed graph in which nodes correspond to recording electrodes, while the edge weights are the pair-wise causal influence. This causal influence is quantified by estimating the pair-wise directed information functional. The SOZ is inferred from the graph by identifying nodes which act as sources of causal influence. Results based on several datasets show a close match between the inferred SOZ and the SOZ estimated by expert neurologists.
Unmanned aerial vehicle acquisition of three-dimensional digital image correlation measurements for structural health monitoring of bridges

Civil engineering structures such as bridges, buildings, and tunnels continue to be used despite aging and deterioration well past their design life. In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) rated the state of the U.S. bridges as mediocre, despite the $12.8 billion USD annually invested. Traditional inspection and monitoring techniques may produce inconsistent results, are labor intensive and too time-consuming to be considered effective for large-scale monitoring. Therefore, new structural health monitoring systems must be developed that are automated, highly accurate, minimally invasive, and cost effective. Three-dimensional (3D) digital image correlation (DIC) systems possess the capability of extracting full-field strain, displacement, and geometry profiles. Furthermore, as this measurement technique is implemented within an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) the capability to expedite the optical-based measurement process is increased as well as the infrastructure downtime being reduced. These resulting integrity maps of the structure of interest can be easily interpreted by trained personal. Within this paper, the feasibility of performing DIC measurements using a pair of cameras installed on a UAV is shown. Performance is validated with in-flight measurements. Also, full-field displacement monitoring, 3D measurement stitching, and 3D point-tracking techniques are employed in conjunction with 3D mapping and data management software. The results of these experiments show that the combination of autonomous flight with 3D DIC and other non-contact measurement systems provides a highly valuable and effective civil inspection platform.
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2*2 knock-in mice show increased reactive oxygen species production in response to cisplatin treatment

The aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzyme family metabolizes and detoxifies both exogenous and endogenous aldehydes. Since chemotherapeutic agents, such as cisplatin, generate cytotoxic aldehydes and oxidative stress, and chemoresistant cancer cells express high levels of ALDH enzymes, we hypothesized that different ALDH expression within cells may show different chemosensitivity. ALDH2 has the lowest Km for acetaldehyde among ALDH isozymes and detoxifies acetaldehydes in addition to other reactive aldehydes, such as 4-hydroxy-nonenal, malondialdehyde and acrolein produced from lipid peroxidation by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, cells with an ALDH2 variant may sensitize them to these ROS-inducing chemotherapy drugs. Here, we used wild type C57BL/6 mice and ALDH2*2 knock-in mutant mice and compared the basal level of ROS in different tissues. Then, we treated the mice with cisplatin, isolated cells from organs and fractionated them into lysates containing mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions, treated with cisplatin again in vitro, and compared the level of ROS generated. We show that overall ROS production increases with cisplatin treatment in cells with ALDH2 mutation. The treatment of cisplatin in the wild type mice did not change the level of ROS compared to PBS treated controls. In contrast, ALDH2*2 knock-in mutant mice showed a significantly increased level of ROS compared to wild type mice in tongue, lung, kidney and brain tissues without any treatment. ALDH2*2 mutant mice showed 20% of the ALDH2 activity in the kidney compared to wild type mice. Treatment of ALDH2*2 mutant mice with cisplatin showed increased ROS levels in the mitochondrial fraction of kidney. In the cytosolic fraction, treatment of mutant mice with cisplatin increased ROS levels in lung and brain compared to PBS treated controls. Furthermore, ALDH2*2 mutant mice treated with cisplatin showed increased cytotoxicity in the kidney cells compared to PBS treated mutant controls. These data indicate that deficiency in ALDH2 activity may contribute to increased cisplatin sensitivity and cytotoxicity by producing more ROS by the treatment. Based on these data, the amount of cisplatin used in patients may need to be adjusted based on their ALDH2 variant profile.
Bodleian Library, MS. Hamilton 46. “Der Oxforder Boethius. Edition und Studie”

The article presents an introduction into the forthcoming edition of the “Oxford Boethius,” Bodleian Library, MS. Hamilton 46Der Beitrag bietet eine Einfuhrung in den “Oxforder Boethius,” Bodleian ...
Parallelizing Synthesis from Temporal Logic Specifications by Identifying Equicontrollable States

For the synthesis of correct-by-construction control policies from temporal logic specifications the scalability of the synthesis algorithms is often a bottleneck. In this paper, we parallelize synthesis from specifications in the GR(1) fragment of linear temporal logic by introducing a hierarchical procedure that allows decoupling of the fixpoint computations. The state space is partitioned into equicontrollable sets using solutions to parametrized games that arise from decomposing the original GR(1) game into smaller reachability-persistence games. Following the partitioning, another synthesis problem is formulated for composing the strategies from the decomposed reachability games. The formulation guarantees that composing the synthesized controllers ensures satisfaction of the given GR(1) property. Experiments with robot planning problems demonstrate good performance of the approach.
Concussion knowledge and experience among a sample of American adults.

BackgroundRecently, there has been a strong emphasis on educating athletes, parents, coaches, and health care providers about concussions. However, not much is known about whether these efforts are...
Nutrient intake from multivitamin supplements is similar among users from five ethnic groups: The Multiethnic Cohort Study

Multivitamin supplements are the most widely used supplement among American adults. Therefore, accurate assessment of nutrient intake from these supplements is crucial when studying diet and chroni...
Abstract 1912: Evaluation of Myocardial Microvascular Permeability and Fractional Vascular Volume Using 64-Slice Helical CT

PURPOSE : Cardiovascular diseases induce subtle changes in myocardial microvascular function. Microvascular permeability (μP) and fractional vascular volume (FVV) can be noninvasively evaluated by electron beam CT (EBCT), but the feasibility of assessing these parameters with the 64-slice multidetector CT (CT-64) is unknown. METHODS : We studied 12 pigs with both EBCT and CT-64 in randomized order 1-week apart, before and during IV adenosine infusion (400 μg/kg/min). Changes in myocardial attenuation in the anterior cardiac wall were assessed after a central venous injection of iopamidol (0.3 ml/kg/2 sec). EBCT scans (50 msec/image) were ECG-triggered at end-diastole, whereas CT-64 scans (330 msec/image) were acquired continuously, and end-diastolic images manually selected. Time attenuation curves were analyzed using both the indicator dilution and the Patlak models to calculate μP and FVV. RESULTS : CT-64 and EBCT assessments of μP obtained by the Patlak method were similar both at baseline (0.37 ± 0.03 vs. 0.37 ± 0.04 AU, p = ns) and in response to adenosine (+19 ± 8% and +20 ± 14%, respectively), and correlated significantly (Figure). Patlak FVV was similar between CT-64 and EBCT at baseline (0.08 ± 0.02 vs. 0.07 ± 0.02 ml blood/cc, p = ns) and during adenosine, and correlated well (r = 0.97, p CONCLUSION : CT-64 assessments of myocardial μP and FVV may not be reliable when using indicator-dilution analysis, likely due to its sensitivity to temporal resolution, but are feasible using the Patlak model and potentially applicable in clinical practice.
The generalized implementation of virtual instruments for surgical simulation

The proliferation of surgical simulators would be increased if a common framework and set of virtual instruments existed for use by the application developer. We describe such a framework consisting of a powerful abstraction of a user interaction device, which can be attached to any virtual instrument. A functional taxonomy of instruments is also provided.
Upregulation of proline oxidase transcriptional activity by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ)

4350 Proline oxidase (POX), also known as proline dehydrogenase, is a mitochondrial membrane-bound enzyme catalyzing the conversion of proline to pyrroline-5-carboxylate coupled to the transfer of electrons to cytochrome c . We and others have shown that POX is a p53-induced gene and hyperexpression of POX in colon cancer cells is sufficient for initiating the apoptotic cascade. Despite the demonstrated role of POX in p53-mediated growth inhibition and apoptosis, the molecular mechanisms regulating its expression are not defined. To gain an understanding of these mechanisms, we cloned the human POX promoter region and produced a POX promoter/luciferase reporter construct. By transient transfection studies using expression constructs of several transcription factors in human colon cancer (LoVo) cells and human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells, we character-ized mechanisms involved in POX expression. Analysis of the promoter nucleotide sequence revealed a number of putative transcription factor-binding sites including C/EBP, AP-1, Sp1, RAR, PPAR, RXR and others which became the basis for our initial studies. In LoVo cells, several transcription factors (PEA3, p300, c-Jun, c-Fos, Fra 1, Jun-D) were modestly active in POX expression, but the most active was PPAR-γ. We found a similar response in HEK 293 cells in which expression of PPAR-γ resulted in a seven- to ten-fold activation of the POX promoter. This effect of PPAR-γ was further enhanced by PPAR-γ ligands, troglitazone and ciglitizone, in a concentration-dependent manner. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) have received recent attention because these nuclear hormone receptors, which function as ligand-activated transcription factors regulating lipid metabolism and homeostasis, are involved in genetic control of many cellular processes. Recent reports by others suggest that PPAR-γ ligands induce apoptotic cell death in colon cancer cells and suppress colon carcinogenesis in mice. Our current results establish a significant role for PPAR-γ in regulation of POX expression and suggest that POX is a target gene of PPAR-γ mediating the apoptotic process.
Cytodifferentiation in theRana pipiens oocyte

This communication is concerned with an analysis of details in the morphogenesis of intramitochondrial yolk in oocytes of immatureRana pipiens, at different times during the prolonged diplotene stage of meiotic prophase in adult females, in fully-grown oocytes, and in those eggs artifically activated during early cleavage. The fine structure of the germinal cytoplasm of cleaving eggs is also characterized. The observations reported are discussed in relation to results obtained by others and in terms of current views regarding mitochondrial function.
A Battery-Powered Ankle Exoskeleton Improves Gait Mechanics in a Feasibility Study of Individuals with Cerebral Palsy

Neuromuscular impairment associated with cerebral palsy (CP) often leads to life-long walking deficits. Our goal was to evaluate the ability of a novel untethered wearable ankle exoskeleton to reduce the severity of gait pathology from CP. In this clinical feasibility study of five individuals with CP, we used instrumented gait analysis to quantify how powered plantar-flexor assistance affected gait mechanics following multi-visit acclimation. Compared to how each participant walked normally, walking with untethered exoskeleton assistance resulted in improved ankle plantar-flexion and knee extension; residual flexion deformity across the lower-extremity improved by a clinically significant 14.4° (p = 0.022). Powered plantar-flexor assistance increased average total positive ankle power by 44% (p = 0.037), and resulted in a 30% reduction in average negative biological ankle power (p = 0.004) and a 29% reduction in average positive hip power (p = 0.009). These findings suggest that powered ankle assistance augmented, rather than simply replaced, biological function to produce a more efficient gait pattern, which was corroborated by a 19% improvement in metabolic cost of transport (p = 0.011). This study provides evidence in support of the continued investigation of ankle assistance in mobility and rehabilitation interventions for this patient population.
Adverse Events and Their Risk Factors Following Intra-articular Corticosteroid Injections of the Ankle or Subtalar Joint:

Background:Little data exists regarding the incidence of adverse events and their associated risk factors following intra-articular corticosteroid injection of the ankle and subtalar joint. The aim...
Flail Toe Correction: Interpositional Bone Graft and Syndactylization Approaches

The flail toe or floppy toe deformity is a condition in which one or more toes of a foot lack stability and structural integrity as the result of excessive bone loss (from surgery, infection, trauma, or tumor) and/or gross motor instability from resection or overlengthening of the tendinous structures to the toe. Excessive resection of bone during the performance of a proximal interphalangeal joint arthroplasty is the most common etiology, but the actual rate of flail or floppy toe following the arthroplasty procedure has not been reported in the literature [1]. The flail or floppy toe deformity should be differentiated from a floating toe deformity or syndrome. McGlamry [2] defined “floating toe syndrome” as a condition in which one or more toes on a foot fail to purchase the weight-bearing surface of the ground during stance or gait. The floating toe deformity is typically at the level of the metatarsophalangeal joint and results from insufficient loading of the plantar plate during stance and gait. Floating toe deformity is commonly seen following shortening or elevating metatarsal osteotomies; following a plantar plate tear, with congenital brachymetatarsia; or following any condition that causes the flexor mechanism and plantar plate of a toe to function inadequately and improperly load during weight-bearing.
Parallel Transmission for Ultrahigh Field MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been driven toward ultrahigh magnetic fields (UHF) in order to benefit from correspondingly higher signal-to-noise ratio and spectral resolution. Technological challenges associated with UHF, such as increased radiofrequency (RF) energy deposition and RF excitation inhomogeneity, limit realization of the full potential of these benefits. Parallel RF transmission (pTx) enables decreases in the inhomogeneity of RF excitations and in RF energy deposition by using multiple-transmit RF coils driven independently and operating simultaneously. pTx plays a fundamental role in UHF MRI by bringing the potential applications of UHF into reality. In this review article, we review the recent developments in pTx pulse design and RF safety in pTx. Simultaneous multislice imaging and inner volume imaging using pTx are reviewed with a focus on UHF applications. Emerging pTx design approaches using improved pTx design frameworks and calibrations are reviewed together with calibration-free approaches that remove the necessity of time-consuming calibrations necessary for successful pTx. Lastly, we focus on the safety of pTx that is improved by using intersubject variability analysis, proactively managing pTx and temperature-based pTx approaches.
Prevalence of pituitary cysts in children using modern magnetic resonance imaging techniques

Pituitary pars intermedia/Rathke cleft cysts or cyst-like structures are commonly encountered in children undergoing brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially when examinations include thin-section, high-resolution sequences. To determine the prevalence of pituitary cystic lesions in children at our institution using modern MRI technique, to assess for associated endocrinopathy and to address the need for follow-up. We retrospectively reviewed 232 consecutive 1.5- and 3-T brain MRIs in children ages 0–18 years (mean: 8.3±5.3 years). We evaluated 3-D volumetric T1 spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) and axial T2-weighted sequences. Pituitary glands were evaluated for the presence, size and signal characteristics of cysts. Cyst volumes were measured in three orthogonal planes. Endocrine abnormalities were documented from the medical record. Pituitary cysts were present in 57.7% of children (n=134), with a mean linear measurement of 3.6±1.17 mm (range: 0.4 to 12.3 mm). The overwhelming majority of cysts were hyopointense on T1-W images (n=121, 90%) and isointense on T2-W images relative to the adenohypophysis (n=106, 79%). T1 hyperintense and T2 hypointense signals were present in a minority, 6.7% and 8%, respectively. Most cysts were occult on post-contrast T1-W images (n=24, 77%). Endocrine abnormalities were present in 2/134 (1.5%) of children with cysts (these were unrelated to the pituitary gland) versus 1/98 (1%) children without cysts (P=0.7). More often than not, pituitary cysts/cyst-like structures can be found incidentally in children using modern MRI techniques. Follow-up is not typically required if there are no associated symptoms or excessive size.
Well-being and College Success of Undergraduate Students

Background: In order to build a culture of well-being among students in post-secondary academic communities, an assessment of current well-being and related factors is necessary. Common barriers to optimal well-being may include stress, anxiety, and depression in college students. Low levels of well-being have been associated with higher levels of impaired academic performance. Aim: Explore the relationship between academic success and time spent performing well-being activities. Methods: Seligman’s Well-Being Theory was used to guide this study. The relationship between well-being and academic success of undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university (N = 5008) was evaluated using data from a 278 item 2018 Student Experience at a Research University (SERU) survey. Measures of academic success included late assignments, going to class unprepared, and skipping class. Measures of well-being included time spent in: physical exercise, spiritual practice, community service, and club participation; time with family and friends were also included. Results : Pearson Chi-Square analysis revealed a total of five significant relationships between well-being activities and late assignments, being unprepared for class, and skipping class at α=.05. Conclusions: Further research is needed to understand the relationship between well-being and academic success to guide development of strategies to support well-being in university students.
Are we better off? Emergency management policy implementation since September 11.

As public policy continues its evolution, so do theories about policy implementation. One policy field that changed during the twenty-first century is emergency management and homeland security in the United States. Since the September 11 attacks, the federal government attempted to centralize the way government agencies at the federal, state, and local level prepare for and respond to natural, accidental, and terror-related disasters. However, research in the field is split about the effectiveness of this effort during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. While some feel federal actions taken to prepare for and respond to incidents of natural, accidental, or purposeful intent have been fruitful in preparing the nation for catastrophic events, others say it detracts from the core mission of emergency management. This study considers if the policy changes that occurred during those administrations created a disparity between the policy expectations of the federal government and the actions of local officials in emergency management. The findings show that local emergency management professionals generally reported the implementation of federal policy expectations, and that the odds of doing so increase where respondents report greater “clarity” in the federal policy language. However, differences exist in terms of how local managers view the requirements of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) versus other federal policy demands. This signals that experienced actors may nominally comply with federal policy demands by downplaying those requirements seen as useless in favor of functions that meet jurisdictional needs.
Alignment-free genomic sequence comparison using FCGR and signal processing

Alignment-free methods of genomic comparison offer the possibility of scaling to large data sets of nucleotide sequences comprised of several thousand or more base pairs. Such methods can be used for purposes of deducing “nearby” species in a reference data set, or for constructing phylogenetic trees. We describe one such method that gives quite strong results. We use the Frequency Chaos Game Representation (FCGR) to create images from such sequences, We then reduce dimension, first using a Fourier trig transform, followed by a Singular Values Decomposition (SVD). This gives vectors of modest length. These in turn are used for fast sequence lookup, construction of phylogenetic trees, and classification of virus genomic data. We illustrate the accuracy and scalability of this approach on several benchmark test sets. The tandem of FCGR and dimension reductions using Fourier-type transforms and SVD provides a powerful approach for alignment-free genomic comparison. Results compare favorably and often surpass best results reported in prior literature. Good scalability is also observed.
When Advice Can Harm

Strategic decisions can be hard, and when facing hard problems, decision-makers commonly seek others’ advice. But finding a good advisor is tricky: People are biased judges of skill, even more so i...
Pharmacy Student Perceptions and Preferences of In-person Versus Video-Recorded Evaluations in Skills-Based Courses.

Objective. To determine pharmacy students’ preferences and perceptions of in-person and video evaluations. The relationship between student perceptions and academic achievement has been established, but little research on student perceptions of evaluation methods exists. Methods. A mixed methods survey was administered to 447 first-, second-, and third-professional year pharmacy students enrolled in one public United States Doctor of Pharmacy program. Fourteen 5-point Likert-type scale quantitative items and four qualitative items measured student perceptions. Eight response choice items measured preferences. Paired t-tests compared perceptions; independent t-tests compared perceptions between students exposed and not exposed to video evaluations. Two researchers performed thematic content analysis of the qualitative responses. Results. Students (n=444, 99.3% response rate) perceived in-person and video evaluations as significantly different, with in-person evaluations being perceived more positively on all items except for nervousness. Students exposed to video felt significantly more positive towards video evaluations than video-naive students on nine items but felt significantly less positive towards video evaluations in terms of quality (Δ=1.24 vs. 0.83) and amount (Δ=1.14 vs 0.77) of written feedback. Students valued interactions with a more diverse pool of evaluators afforded by video evaluations but did not view the video technology as applicable to future practice. Conclusion. Students viewed in-person evaluations significantly more positively than video evaluations. This effect is mitigated by exposure to video, suggesting that concerns regarding video evaluations are based on conjecture rather than experience. This study highlights the need to reduce technological issues and improve written feedback associated with video evaluations.
Processing of organic electro-optic materials for commercial applications

Ultrafast telecommunications, computing, data processing, and sensing are critical to meeting the demands of modern and next generation networking, data transmission, and communications. Hybrid organic electro-optic (OEO) systems enable high-speed, energy-efficient, chip integrated solutions that significantly surpass the SWaP-CP of incumbent material technologies. Current technology infrastructure is facing constraints in computing speed, network capacity, and power efficiency while OEO materials integrated on-chip offer a scalable, market-transforming solution that enables “more than Moore” growth. Recent research milestones demonstrate OEO materials integrated into nanoscale waveguides, yielding > 500 GHz EO bandwidth, power consumption < 100 aJ/bit, and device footprints < 10 μm2. This performance has the potential to transform computing, enable ultrafast digital signal processing, 5G+ telecommunications, sensing, and electromagnetic interference (EMI/EMP) resilience. Key to enabling such commercial and governmental applications is the efficient processing of the materials when integrating into devices at large scale. In addition, materials must meet standard requirements for stability when exposed to varied environmental conditions including heat, humidity, and cold shock. Herein we describe recent results on the reliability of commercially available OEO materials. We also present a plan for these materials to be integrated into SOH and POH devices, and processed using existing commercial semiconductor and photonics foundry infrastructure. With these recent results demonstrating promising environmental stability, OEO materials are poised to be integrated into commercial SOH and POH devices at scale.
Location-thinking, value-thinking, and graphical forms: combining analytical frameworks to analyze inferences made by students when interpreting the points and trends on a reaction coordinate diagram

Reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) are chemical representations widely employed to visualize the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters associated with reactions. Previous research has demonstrated a host of misconceptions students adopt when interpreting the perceived information encoded in RCDs. This qualitative research study explores how general chemistry students interpret points and trends on a RCD and how these interpretations impact their inferences regarding the rate of a chemical reaction. Sixteen students participated in semi-structured interviews in which participants were asked to interpret the points and trends along provided RCDs and to compare relative reaction rates between RCDs. Findings derived from this study demonstrate the diversity of graphical reasoning adopted by students, the impact of students’ interpretations of the x-axis of a RCD on the graphical reasoning employed, and the influence of these ideas on inferences made about reaction rate. Informed by analytical frameworks grounded in the resources framework and the actor-oriented model of transfer, implications for instruction are provided with suggestions for how RCDs may be presented to assist students in recognizing the critical information encoded in these diagrams.
In Memoriam Albert Melvin Grass 1910–1992

(1992). In Memoriam Albert Melvin Grass 1910–1992. American Journal of EEG Technology: Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 183-185.
Is the Pandemic Personal or Political? The Influence of Demographics and Risk Proximity on Attitudes toward COVID-19 Policy in Washington State

Many social factors affect the extent to which people may support governmental policies aimed at mitigating risk. The authors ask how demographic variables, preexisting vulnerability, and proximity...
Coherent Spectroscopy in Electronically Excited States

This chapter deals with one of the new generation of coherence experiments that have been developing in the past few years. In this instance the coherence techniques are applied to levels within electronically excited states, and the coherence is monitored by a double-resonance method. Although the techniques are applicable to many traditional magnetic resonance experiments, they also form the basis for investigating molecular dynamics in spectroscopy and promise to reveal a great deal about the time evolution of excited states and the nature of time-dependent interactions between molecular states in solids. The specific development given here will be confined to coherence experiments in the molecular excited triplet states in zero field; however, it is not too difficult to visualize how the methods could be applied to a wide variety of other systems and problems, some of which are outlined in other chapters of this volume. It is important to stress that the generality of the approach makes it useful to any double-resonance experiment in a multilevel system regardless of whether the levels are associated with spin systems or electronic states, or both, as is the case with optically detected magnetic resonance. For this reason we will develop the theory rather completely.
DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF TANKERS DURING TWO-WAY TRAFFIC IN CHANNELS

A nonlinear digital simulation model was formulated to examine the dynamic behavior of large full-form tankers during meeting and passing in restricted channels. Computer-printed trajectories obtained in a series of digital simulations indicated basic patterns of ship behavior. Performance of various control systems was evaluated in terms of deviations in ship trajectory and rudder angle. Comparisons with previous measurements obtained in full- and model-scale tests verify realistic modeling of the system.
Botox Injection Techniques: Minimizing Bruising and Discomfort

The goal of Botox injection is to deliver an appropriate intramuscular drug dose while minimizing bruising and pain. Ecchymosis is easily visible in the thin skin when it arises from the orbicularis oculi muscle.
Bridging the Gap between Substance Use Prevention Theory and Practice

Reducing SU has been an elusive goal, and SU prevention programs for the past 30 years have had, at best, only modest success. Although programs have relied increasingly on theory and increasingly more comprehensive theory, they still have a long way to go to make full use of SU theories. Therefore, it is our belief that SU could be reduced further if program planners relied more on theory when designing their programs. A heavy reliance on theory could build programs upon a foundation of (1) less than obvious risk and protective factors, (2) multiple risk and protective factors that are modifiable within the context of the intervention, (3) careful consideration of how audience characteristics might moderate or interact with program effects, and (4) realistic considerations of the magnitude and immediacy of program effects. Without a heavy reliance on comprehensive theory, SU prevention might only continue its 30-year trend of modest success.
THREE TOPICS IN ILL-POSED PROBLEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter presents three topics in ill-posed problems. The first topic concerns the imposition of specified types of discontinuities on otherwise smooth two and three dimensional solutions of ill-posed problems. The work has application to the recovery of the three-dimensional atmospheric temperature distribution from satellite-observed radiances. A closely related reference is Svensson. The method proposed in the chapter for imposing specified discontinuities on the solution given discrete, noisy values on functionals of the solution can be expected to have application to a number of problems in the atmospheric and geological sciences. The second topic concerns the Richardson/Landweber/Fridman/Picard/ Cimino iterative methods for iterative solutions of large linear systems. The third topic concerns the parameter estimation problem for PDEs with particular application to the reservoir modelling problem.
The strengths of weaker identities: opportunistic personas

Cryptographic security mechanisms often assume that keys or certificates are strongly tied to a party's identity. This requirement can in practice impose a high bar on making effective use of the cryptographic protections, because securing the coupling between credentials and actual identity can prove to be an arduous process. We frame a more relaxed form of identity, termed opportunistic personas, that works by (i) generating cryptographic credentials on an as-needed basis, (ii) associating credentials not with a user per se but instead as a link to past behavior by the same actor, as a means to inform future interactions, and (iii) managing these credentials implicitly in an opportunistic fashion. Using three real-world examples, we illustrate the benefits this unorthodox approach to identity management can yield.