cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emphysema due to smoke from a herbal asthma remedy

A 79-year-old man was referred to us for possible lung volume reduction surgery. He was a lifelong non-smoker but had had mild asthma since the age of 10. He had never required hospitalization nor used inhaled bronchodilators until a few years previously when he had been diagnosed with COPD. His MRC dyspnoea score was 4. Spirometry revealed an FEV1 of 0.88L (25% predicted), an FVC of 4.48 L (94%) predicted with an FEV1/VC ratio of 24% and no additional improvement with bronchodilators. Lung volumes were increased; total lung capacity was 117% predicted and residual volume 156% predicted. Gas transfer values were reduced; TLcoc of 35% predicted, Kcoc of 63% predicted. Arterial PaCO2 was 4.0 kPa and PaO2 7.2 kPa. CT thorax showed diffuse emphysema throughout both lungs, with bullous changes at both bases (Figure 1). He reported no occupational exposure to any pulmonary irritants, nor any exposure to animals or birds. Further enquiry revealed that from the age of 12 years, for about 50 years, he had controlled his asthma by inhaling smoke from a preparation called Potter’s ‘Asthma Remedy’, the presumptive cause of his emphysema.
Comparative Effectiveness of Targeted vs Empirical Antibiotic Prophylaxis to Prevent Sepsis from Transrectal Prostate Biopsy: A Retrospective Analysis

Purpose: We compared the effectiveness of targeted prophylaxis to the effectiveness of empirical prophylaxis for preventing sepsis after transrectal prostate biopsy using a retrospective multicenter quality improvement study.Materials and Methods: A total of 13 Kaiser Permanente urology departments participated in a 1-year retrospective analysis of a quality improvement study. In the targeted prophylaxis group rectal cultures were performed before transrectal prostate biopsy and antibiotic sensitivities of Escherichia coli were used to guide the selection of a single agent antibiotic for prophylaxis. Cultures were plated on 10 μg/ml ciprofloxacin infused MacConkey agar at a central laboratory. Urologists using empirical prophylaxis continued the usual regimen of ciprofloxacin monotherapy prophylaxis but sometimes added an additional prophylactic antibiotic. The primary outcome of post-biopsy sepsis was compiled by a search of the electronic medical record for the appropriate ICD-9 codes.Results: A total o...
Effects of Correlated Shadowing: Connectivity, Localization, and RF Tomography

Unlike current models for radio channel shadowing indicate, real-world shadowing losses on different links in a network are not independent. The correlations have both detrimental and beneficial impacts on sensor, ad hoc, and mesh networks. First, the probability of network connectivity reduces when link shadowing correlations are considered. Next, the variance bounds for sensor self-localization change, and provide the insight that algorithms must infer localization information from link correlations in order to avoid significant degradation from correlated shadowing. Finally, a major benefit is that shadowing correlations between links enable the tomographic imaging of an environment from pairwise RSS measurements. This paper applies measurement-based models, and measurements themselves, to analyze and to verify both the benefits and drawbacks of correlated link shadowing.
Speaking rate adaptation using continuous frame rate normalization

This paper describes a speaking rate adaptation technique for automatic speech recognition. The technique aims to reduce speaking rate variations by applying temporal warping in front-end processing so that the average phone duration in terms of feature frames remains constant. Speaking rate estimates are given by timing information from unadapted decoding outputs. We implement the proposed continuous frame rate normalization (CFRN) technique on a state-of-the-art speech recognition architecture, and evaluate it on the most recent GALE broadcast transcription tasks. Results show that CFRN gives consistent improvement on all four separate systems and two different languages. In fact, the reported numbers represent the best decoding error rates of the corresponding test sets. It is further shown that the technique is effective without retraining, and adds little overhead to the multi-pass recognition pipeline found in state-of-the-art transcription systems.
Metal-island-film polarizer

A waveguide polarizer of acceptable length, high extinction coefficient, and low insertion loss is developed by locating a metal-island film suitably close and parallel to the dielectric film waveguide. The polarizer passes the p polarization and severely attenuates the s polarization. The operation of the polarizer is based on a selective phase-matched interaction between the two weakly coupled films. The performance of the polarizer is insensitive to small changes in the various physical parameters.
Dispersion-cancelled tomographic measurements using entangled photons

This study presents the first experimental demonstration of quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) technique using a thin window of glass as a sample. The dispersion cancellation capability is exhibited by carrying out the measurement on the same sample after burying it under a highly dispersive medium. A detailed comparison of these results are also presented with measurements performed by classical OCT.
A Structured Connectionist Approach to Inferencing and Retrieval

Simple connectionist models have generally been unable to perform natural language understanding or memory retrieval beyond simple stereotypical situations that they have seen before. This is because they have had difficulties representing and applying general knowledge rules that specifically require variables, barring them from performing the high-level inferencing necessary for planning, reasoning, and natural language understanding. This chapter describes ROBIN, a structured (i.e., localist) connectionist model capable of massively-parallel high-level inferencing requiring variable bindings and rule application, and REMIND, a model based on ROBIN that explores the integration of language understanding and episodic memory retrieval in a single spreading-activation mechanism.
Some Additional Evidence on the Determinants of State Audit Budgets

State and local governments are exempt from the auditing regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Nevertheless, state governments expend considerable resources on financial, legal compliance, and operational audits. The objective of this paper is to identify the relationships and incentives that motivate public sector auditing expenditures in the absence of SEC regulation. While we know of no well-developed theory which specifies the determinants of governmental audit budgets, the discussion of underlying relationships and the empirical regularities demonstrated in this study could be useful in developing such a theory.
Ain’t Charity: Disallowing Deductions for Kept Resources

A deduction for a charitable contribution is a reasonable subtraction when the taxpayer has lost the amounts paid so it can no longer be used to support the taxpayer’s standard of living. If a taxpayer receives services back, the payment is not charity or a reduction of standard of living but self-service, and the payment is not properly deducted. This proposal would create a floor of $1,000 per year to cover cases in which a payment is not strictly identified with the quid pro quo but the taxpayer attended services or events put on by the charity. Deductions would be allowed only for payments to the charity in excess of the floor.Similarly, a deduction for unrealized appreciation of property given to charity is a way of sheltering gain that a taxpayer has accumulated and used for self-serving purposes. Thus the proposal would limit charitable deductions to basis. Under it, the taxpayer would sometimes want to sell property to take advantage of capital gains rates, but requiring a real sale avoids hard valuation difficulties. The proposal is made as a part of the Shelf Project, a collaboration among tax professionals to develop proposals to raise revenue. The Shelf Project is intended to raise revenue without a VAT or a rate hike in ways that will improve the fairness, efficiency, and rationality of the tax system. Now is the time for congressional staff work to be done to prevent the impending revenue crisis. An overview of the Shelf Project is found in ‘‘How to Raise $1 Trillion Without a VAT or a Rate Hike,’’ Tax Notes, July 5, 2010, p. 101, Doc 2010-13081, or 2010 TNT 129-4. Congress adopted its first Shelf Project in March 2010. New section 871(1), enacted in the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, is based on the Shelf Project proposal by Reuven Avi-Yonah, ‘‘Enforcing Dividend Withholding on Derivatives,’’ Tax Notes, Nov. 10, 2008, p. 747, Doc 2008-22806, or 2008 TNT 219-34.Shelf Project proposals follow the format of a congressional tax committee report in explaining current law, what is wrong with it, and how to fix it.
Estrogen-Androgen Antagonism: Histology of Mammary Glands and Vaginal Grafts of Male Mice Receiving Estrogens.∗

Summary1. Studies of the effect of injections of steroid and non-steroid estrogenic substances on the mammary gland and vaginal mucosa of castrate and non-castrate male mice bearing subcutaneous vaginal grafts are reported. 2. It is suggested that antagonistic actions exist between the naturally-occurring estrogens (estrone, estradiol) and testicular androgens in regard to the mammary gland and vaginal mucosa. 3. Such antagonism did not seem to occur when the synthetic estrogenic substance diethylstilbestrol was employed.
Strengthening mechanisms of reactive element Hf on key interface in thermal barrier coating systems based on first-principles

A systematic strategy was proposed and overviewed to predict the adhesion strength of metal/oxide interfaces,with the technologically-important γ-Ni(Al)/α-Al2O3 interface as an example.The atomistic density functional theory(DFT) calculations were carried out to assess the effects of temperature,interfacial stoichiometry,Al activity,S segregation and Hf doping on the adhesion.Computations of the Al activity in Ni(Al) and the interfacial phase diagram between 1 300 and 1 600 K suggest that the interface phase is Al-riched phase,but close to the boundary with the stoichiometric phase.The Al-riched phase has significantly stronger adhesion than the stoichiometric phase.While S can substantially decrease the adhesion by 60%-70%,alloying with reactive-element Hf substantially improves the adhesion through three strengthening mechanisms: pinning S in bulk Ni(Al),displacing S from its interstitial interfacial sites,and directly enhancing the interfacial bonds.
Human eosinophilic peroxidase: role in bactericidal activity.

Peroxidase, present in both neutrophils and eosinophils, is thought to be involved in the bactericidal activity of leukocytes, through either the decarboxylation of amino acids in the presence of chloride or the iodination of proteins in the presence of iodide. We examined these activities in sonic extracts of purified neutrophils and eosinophils and related them to the ability of the extracts to kill bacteria. In contrast to the neutrophil, the eosinophil cell-free system is unable to decarboxylate L-alanine-1- 14 C. Decarboxylation by the neutrophil peroxidase is dependent on the hydrogen peroxide concentration, with inhibition at high levels. Peroxidase-mediated decarboxylation showed a pH optimum at 4.5 and was dependent on the type of buffer employed, in order of increasing activity, N-(2-acetamido)-iminodiacetic acid (ADA), Tris-maleate, sodium phosphate, and sodium acetate. Iodination, measured as the ability to convert 125I into a trichloroacetic acid-precipitable form, was greater in resting eosinophils than in resting neutrophils. Both leukocyte types show increased iodinating ability upon phagocytosis of zymosan. When iodide was used as the halide, eosinophil and neutrophil cell-free preparations showed bactericidal activity as measured by the reduction in viability of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In contrast, with chloride as the halide only the neutrophil system could effectively kill both organisms. This finding is in agreement with the observation that eosinophilic peroxidase is unable to catalyze the decarboxylation reaction, and it suggests the importance of this mechanism in bactericidal activity.
Gamete cryopreservation and ovarian tissue transplantation

A cancer diagnosis no longer necessarily ends a woman's life--or her future fertility. Experts offer an update on two ways of salvaging potential fertility.
The Super-Relaxed State of Myosin is Altered by Estradiol in Skeletal Muscle of Aged Female Mice

We have used quantitative epifluorescence microscopy of fluorescent ATP to measure single-nucleotide turnover in skinned skeletal muscle fibers from old male and female mice. Aging causes declines in muscle strength, often leading to weakness-related health problems for the elderly. Female muscle has additional functional decrements with age due to reduced ovarian hormone production. Estradiol (E2) is the major sex hormone signal to skeletal muscle in females, and strength loss is rescued by E2 treatment in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. We previously showed that E2-mediated signaling reversibly regulates slow ATP turnover by myosin in single fibers isolated from OVX mice. To investigate E2 mechanisms on aged skeletal muscle, single fibers were isolated from young (2 months) or old (28 months) male and female mice, and were incubated with mantATP. Old female mice receiving 60-day E2 treatment were also studied. We measured the decay of mantATP fluorescence in an ATP-chase experiment to characterize the slow nucleotide turnover, called the super-relaxed state (SRX), detected in approximately one-third of the myosin heads. The SRX turnover was faster in aged female fibers compared to young female fibers. In contrast, ATP turnover in old male fibers was not significantly different than in young males, and even trended toward slower rather than faster turnover with aging. We conclude that E2-mediated signaling reversibly regulates slow ATP turnover by myosin in aging female mice. Age- and hormone-related functional deficits may be targetable at the level of myosin and other contractile protein structure/function for strategies to offset muscle weakness and metabolic changes that occur with age. This work was supported by NIH grants to DDT (R37 AG026160 and R01 AR032961), to DL (R01 AG31743), to BAC (R00 HL122397), and to KJP and BCC (T32 AR7612).
GPU concurrency choices in graph analytics

Graph analytics is becoming ever more ubiquitous in today's world. However, situational dynamic changes in input graphs, such as changes in traffic and weather patterns, lead to variations in concurrency. Moreover, graph algorithms are known to have data dependent loops and fine-grain synchronization that makes them hard to scale on parallel machines. Recent trends in computing indicate the rise of massively-threaded machines, such as Graphic Processing Units (GPUs). It is of paramount importance to adopt these graph algorithms efficiently on these GPU machines. However, concurrency variations are expected to play a formidable role in achieving good GPU performance. This paper performs an in-depth characterization of GPU architectural choices for graph benchmarks executing on a diverse set of input graphs. The analysis shows that performance improves by a geometric mean of 40% when optimal threads are spawned on a GPU relative to a naive choice that maximizes total thread count. Moreover, an additional 41% performance is achieved when the number of threads per GPU work group is reduced to a setting that optimizes exploitable hardware concurrency. It is also shown that algorithmic auto-tuning coupled with the right architectural choices co-optimize GPU performance.
Multimodal Mapmaking: Working Toward an Entangled Methodology of Place

This article addresses mapmaking as a multimodal method and lens for place-based ethnographic inquiry. I describe three contexts drawn from my research on and teaching of mapmaking. Drawing from my own sense-making of mapping as an embodied phenomenon, I discuss how the fields of sensory and materialist studies might expand the interpretive possibilities of multimodal ethnography as an epistemological and ontological lens involving the entanglement of place, body, and experience with knowing and becoming. [mapmaking, multimodality, senses, place, materiality]
1994 Ecosystem Engineers

Physical modifications of the environment by animals, such as beaver building a dam, affect ecosystem properties like nutrient cycles, the distribution of soil particles and chambers in soil, and water availability.
Natural Interferon Producing Cells Develop from Murine CD31+(high)/Ly6C- Marrow Progenitors.

Dendritic cells (DC) play a critical role in the initiation and regulation of immune responses. Based on immunophenotypic and functional charcateristics, murine CD11c+ DC can be classified into CD11c + , CD11b + , and B220 − “conventional” DC and CD11c + , CD11b −/dim , B220 + , and Gr-1 + interferon-producing cells (IPC) or plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). The developmental origin of IPC remains controversial. In this study, we investigated the capacity of different murine bone marrow subpopulations to acquire immunophenotypic, morphologic and functional characteristics of IPC after in vitro culture with Flt-3L. Total bone marrow (BM) from 129/SvJ mice was sorted into six distinct BM subsets based on surface expression of the myeloid markers CD31 and Ly6C and subsequently cultured with Flt-3L for 8 days. Purified CD31 high /Ly6C − BM cells were the only subset that consistently developed characteristics closely resembling that of IPC. Specifically, these cells expressed high levels of CD11c, low levels of CD11b, the lymphoid marker B220, and the IPC-specific marker 440C. Furthermore, these cells displayed the typical plasmacytoid morphology with eccentrically located nucleus showing mature lymphoid chromatin and lack of nucleoli. Functionally, these cells showed a high proliferation rate as demonstrated by the [ 3 H] thymidine release assay and secreted detectable levels of IFN-alpha when stimulated with CPG ODN 2216. In contrast, all other sorted subsets failed to proliferate in the presence of Flt-3L. Similar results were obtained using BM from B6-RAG −/− mice. These findings indicate that, although both the CD31 high /Ly6C − and CD31 int /Ly6C − BM subsets contain early progenitor cells corresponding to “cobblestone area forming cells”, only the CD31 high /Ly6C − is able to give rise to IPC when cultured with Flt-3L. Interestingly, CD31 high /Ly6C − BM cells have been previously shown to generate also conventional DC if cultured with GM-CSF. Thus, IPC and DC may derive from common or closely related progenitors. Moreover, our results demonstrate that IPC development, in contrast to that of lymphocytes, does not require RAG proteins.
System identification of Just Walk: A behavioral mHealth intervention for promoting physical activity

There is significant evidence to show that physical activity reduces the risk of many chronic diseases. With the rise of mobile health (mHealth) technologies, one promising approach is to design interventions that are responsive to an individual's changing needs. This is the overarching goal of Just Walk, an intensively adaptive physical activity intervention that has been designed on the basis of system identification and control engineering principles. Features of this intervention include the use of multisine signals as pseudo-random inputs for providing daily step goals and reward targets for participants, and an unconventional ARX estimation-validation procedure applied to judiciously-selected data segments that seeks to balance predictive ability over validation data segments with overall goodness of fit. Analysis of the estimated models provides important clues to individual participant characteristics that influence physical activity. The insights gained from black-box modeling are critical to building semi-physical models based on a dynamic extension of Social Cognitive Theory.
Walk like a woman, talk like a man: Ivy Queen's troubling of gender

This article examines how Ivy Queen deploys particular codes of masculinity and femininity in her music and performances. By drawing comparisons with other singers, I analyze what this deployment reveals about gender and its role in reggaeton, in music more generally, and in mass culture. I argue that Ivy Queen’s particular engagement with gender opens up a space to interrogate gender norms and their relationship with power in the consumption of mass cultural forms.
Recombinant ADAMTS-13: goodbye, allergic reactions!

In this issue of Blood , Scully et al describe very promising results of a phase 1 study of recombinant ADAMTS-13 (rADAMTS-13; a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13) in patients with congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (cTTP) that is likely to make these patients’ lives allergy free. 1
Numerical service-life modeling of chloride-induced corrosion in recycled-aggregate concrete

Abstract This paper presents the theoretical development, validation, and implementation of a 1D numerical service-life prediction model for reinforced recycled aggregate concrete exposed to internal and external sources of chlorides. The model accounts for the inclusion of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), namely (a) fly ash, (b) slag, (c) silica fume, and (d) metakaolin, and recycled aggregates (i) with and (ii) without initial chloride contamination from previous in-service exposure. The model is used to predict time to corrosion-induced cracking for reinforced recycled aggregate concrete in five case-study applications, namely structures in a marine splash zone (Zone I), a marine spray zone (Zone II), within 800 km of coastline (Zone III), within 1.5 km of coastline (Zone IV), and parking structures at locations greater than 1.5 km from the coastline (Zone V) in Los Angeles, California and Anchorage, Alaska. The effects of recycled aggregate size, aggregate replacement ratio, degree of aggregate pre-contamination, water-to-cement (w/c) ratio, and SCMs on time-to-cracking of reinforced recycled aggregate concrete are elucidated herein. The potential for SCMs to improve the service life of recycled aggregate concrete is investigated by estimating additions required to meet a target service life of 50 years. Results indicate that, in addition to geographic location, temperature, and severity of exposure, w/c ratio and aggregate replacement ratio exhibit the greatest impact on time to chloride-induced cracking in reinforced recycled aggregate concrete. Furthermore, initial aggregate chloride contamination and aggregate size impart minimal effects on expected service life. Finally, the results illustrate that the use of either fly ash or slag is most viable in achieving a 50-year service life for the recycled aggregate concretes in chloride-laden environments considered in this work.
Influence of Cementing Paste Volume on Properties of Controlled Low Strength Materials

AbstractControlled low strength materials (CLSM) are gaining increasing importance with the growing emphasis on sustainability in the construction industry. Controlled low strength material can be ...
Dwelling in the Question: Professional Empowerment Through Complex Visual Self-Study

We live immersed in an image-based world, where digital devices and visual media inform our daily lives. This emerging environment for innovative teaching demands that faculty engage with this visually rich digital environment, not merely as a toolbox from which to replace traditional teaching tools but as a pathway to develop new models of engagement with teaching, learning, and scholarship. Self-study of teaching provides an apt pathway for this kind of holistic change because it encourages teachers to reengage in their profession and requires “willingness to publicly problematize teaching and learning … be open to, and act upon, the curiosities, surprises, and challenges of everyday teaching practice; and to actively seek out alternative perspectives on practice” (Berry M: Self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP). In: Gunstone R (ed) Encyclopedia of science education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 964–965, 2014, p. 964). This community of inquiry triggered self-sustaining reciprocal faculty development and generated support for intellectual risk and a Rilkean dwelling in the question in ways more conventional collaborations could not. Participants both rediscovered and renewed the idealism and activism that first drew them to the academy, confirming the regenerative potential of transformative learning as well as its accessibility to all.
Progressive glomerular and tubular damage in sickle cell trait and sickle cell anemia mouse models.

Homozygosity for the hemoglobin (Hb) S mutation (HbSS, sickle cell anemia) results in hemoglobin polymerization under hypoxic conditions leading to vaso-occlusion and hemolysis. Sickle cell anemia affects 1:500 African Americans and is a strong risk factor for kidney disease, although the mechanisms are not well understood. Heterozygous inheritance (HbAS; sickle cell trait) affects 1:10 African Americans and is associated with an increased risk for kidney disease in some reports. Using transgenic sickle mice, we investigated the histopathologic, ultrastructural, and gene expression differences with the HbS mutation. Consistent with progressive glomerular damage, we observed progressively greater urine protein concentrations (P = 0.03), glomerular hypertrophy (P = 0.002), and glomerular cellularity (P = 0.01) in HbAA, HbAS, and HbSS mice, respectively. Ultrastructural studies demonstrated progressive podocyte foot process effacement, glomerular basement membrane thickening with reduplication, and tubular villous atrophy with the HbS mutation. Gene expression studies highlighted the differential expression of several genes involved in prostaglandin metabolism (AKR1C18), heme and iron metabolism (HbA-A2, HMOX1, SCL25A37), electrolyte balance (SLC4A1, AQP6), immunity (RSAD2, C3, UBE2O), fatty acid metabolism (FASN), hypoxia hall-mark genes (GCK, SDC3, VEGFA, ETS1, CP, BCL2), as well as genes implicated in other forms of kidney disease (PODXL, ELMO1, FRMD3, MYH9, APOA1). Pathway analysis highlighted increased gene enrichment in focal adhesion, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, and axon guidance pathways. In summary, using transgenic sickle mice, we observed that inheritance of the HbS mutation is associated with glomerular and tubular damage and identified several candidate genes and pathways for future investigation in sickle cell trait and sickle cell anemia-related kidney disease.
Pupil-Involving Third Cranial Nerve Paresis at High Altitude

Abstract Blomquist, Preston H. Pupil-involving third cranial nerve paresis at high altitude. High Alt Med Biol. 19:286–287, 2018.—Although sixth cranial nerve palsies are a well-recognized entity a...
A New Test Method of Circuit Breaker Spring Telescopic Characteristics Based Image Processing

This paper applied computer vision technology to the fatigue condition monitoring of springs, and a new telescopic characteristics test method is proposed for circuit breaker operating mechanism spring based on image processing technology. High-speed camera is utilized to capture spring movement image sequences when high voltage circuit breaker operated. Then the image-matching method is used to obtain the deformation-time curve and speed-time curve, and the spring expansion and deformation parameters are extracted from it, which will lay a foundation for subsequent spring force analysis and matching state evaluation. After performing simulation tests at the experimental site, this image analyzing method could solve the complex problems of traditional mechanical sensor installation and monitoring online, status assessment of the circuit breaker spring.
Piezospectroscopy: Electronic States and Phonons in Semiconductors and Insulators

Spectroscopic investigations have played an essential role in the elucidation of the properties of matter in all states of aggregation. In these studies symmetry considerations become indispensable for the characterization of the quantum mechanical states of the objects under study. These states are classified according to the irreducible representations of the appropriate symmetry group of the system, i.e., they are described by quantum numbers reflecting the values of conserved dynamical quantities.
VisDA: A Synthetic-to-Real Benchmark for Visual Domain Adaptation

The success of machine learning methods on visual recognition tasks is highly dependent on access to large labeled datasets. However, real training images are expensive to collect and annotate for both computer vision and robotic applications. The synthetic images are easy to generate but model performance often drops significantly on data from a new deployment domain, a problem known as dataset shift, or dataset bias. Changes in the visual domain can include lighting, camera pose and background variation, as well as general changes in how the image data is collected. While this problem has been studied extensively in the domain adaptation literature, progress has been limited by the lack of large-scale challenge benchmarks.
Arc Flash Hazards of 125 Vdc Station Battery Systems

Arc flash incident energy studies are critical in determining appropriate personal protective equipment for electrical workers. While ac incident energy calculation methods have been refined based on extensive testing, available methodologies for calculating dc incident energy rely on conservative assumptions due to lack of experimental results. Consequently, workers may be unnecessarily encumbered with excessive PPE. To better quantify the dc arc flash hazard that Bonneville Power Administration employees are exposed to, laboratory testing was performed to replicate the most severe conditions electrical workers were likely to encounter. Using a flooded lead-acid station battery, faults were initiated, such that fault current and incident energy could be measured. Results showed that industry-standard arc models overestimate the incident energy by more than a factor of ten. It was concluded that BPA electrical workers were not reasonably exposed to more than 4 Cal/cm2, and required PPE was reduced to Level 1 for all 125 VDC station battery circuits.
Prehospital Use of Ketamine: Effectiveness in Critically Ill and Injured Patients.

Background The military use of ketamine is well established. The benefits of prehospital civilian use have not been extensively reported. Methods A retrospective review was performed of patients with prehospital ketamine use in Mayo One's air and critical care ground transport. Results The medical records were reviewed from 2014 to 2016 to assess the efficacy of Ketamine. During this time frame, 158 (167 instances) patients were treated with ketamine for analgesia (38%), sedation (44%), or procedural (18%) use. The patient population had a mean age of 49 (range: 1-100), with 105 (67%) male patients. Indications included trauma (69%), which was further broken down into blunt (57%), penetrating (4%), and miscellaneous (8%), and medical illness (31%). The mean ketamine dose was 52.6 mg (range: 5-200 mg) via intravenous route. Ketamine was utilized in 61% of patients after other medications were ineffective. Overall success rate was 98%. Mean pain scale before and after ketamine use was 9/10 and 3/10, respectively. Ketamine use increased yearly from 21 (13%) in 2014, 56 (36%) in 2015, and 81 (51%) in 2016. Conclusion Prehospital ketamine use is effective alone or in conjunction with other medications for analgesia, sedation, and procedural use in trauma and critically ill patients with minimal hemodynamic and respiratory consequences.
Determination of reciprocal lattice from direct space in 3D and 2D – Examination of hexagonal band structure

Abstract With the advent of the metal–insulator transition (MIT) as a tool for adjusting the properties of lower dimensions materials, with nanoscale dimensions in one or more of the coordinate directions, it is worthwhile to derive analytical formulas for the electronic energy in k-space, for a generic two-dimensional hexagonal lattice as a prelude for their use in nanoscopic transport devices (using the MIT) or other solid state devices. This is done in the tight binding (TB) approximation, since it allows a tractable analytical development, with some refinements possible. This lattice structure is applicable to many 2D materials like graphene, BN, MoS2, and many others. This chapter treats 3D analysis of direct and indirect space vectors (Section 2.1 ), 2D analysis of direct and indirect space vectors (Section 2.2 ), 2D analysis of first Brillouin zone vertex points (Section 2.3 ), 2D analysis showing the uniqueness properties of crystallographic K points (Section 2.4 ), and 2D analysis of the closest atoms for the tight-binding method (Section 2.5 ).
Ensuring expression of four core cardiogenic transcription factors enhances cardiac reprogramming

Previous studies have shown that forced expression of core cardiogenic transcription factors can directly reprogram fibroblasts to induced cardiomyocyte-like cells (iCMs). This cardiac reprogramming approach suggests a potential strategy for cardiomyocyte regeneration. However, a major challenge of this approach remains the low conversion rate. Here, we showed that ensuring expression of four cardiogenic transcription factors (i.e. Gata4 (G), Hand2 (H), Mef2c (M), and Tbx5 (T)) in individual fibroblasts is an initial bottleneck for cardiac reprogramming. Following co-transduction of three or four retroviral vectors encoding individual cardiogenic transcription factors, only a minor subpopulation of cells indeed expressed all three (GMT) or four (GHMT) factors. By selectively analyzing subpopulations of cells expressing various combinations of reprogramming factors, we found that co-expression of GMT in individual fibroblasts is sufficient to induce sarcomeric proteins. However, only a small fraction of those cells expressing GMT were able to develop organized sarcomeric structures and contractility. In contrast, ensuring expression of GHMT markedly enhanced the development of contractile cardiac structures and functions in fibroblasts, although its incremental effect on sarcomeric protein induction was relatively small. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanistic basis of inefficient cardiac reprogramming and can help to devise efficient reprogramming strategies.
Measuring Family Accommodation of Childhood Anxiety: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Validity, and Reliability of the Parent and Child Family Accommodation Scale - Anxiety.

Objective: Research on family accommodation is burgeoning, implicating it in the development, maintenance, and treatment of childhood anxiety. Additional data are needed to guide theory development...
Things I’ve Learned from Failure and Friends

As a tenured professor at a small liberal arts college, teaching a range of courses from Introduction to International Relations (IR) to advanced courses on Theories of International Relations, I have sought to learn from my mistakes and from the experiences of others. In this essay, I discuss the art of telling a good story, teaching as a performance, utilizing a range of pedagogical techniques across a course, being clear about assignment expectations, and offering clear justifications for readings and assignments. While dubious about the process of teaching per se, I maintain that learning is possible and that the two most important attributes for a professor are creating environments where learning can happen and dedicating oneself to actively learning from others, be they colleagues, students, or nonacademics.
Effect of nebulizer type, delivery interface, and flow rate on aerosol drug delivery to spontaneously breathing pediatric and infant lung models.

BACKGROUND Different types of nebulizers, interfaces, and flow rates are used to deliver aerosolized medications to children. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of nebulizer type, delivery interface, and flow rate on aerosol drug delivery to spontaneously breathing pediatric and infant lung models. METHODOLOGY A teaching mannequin was attached to a sinusoidal pump via a collecting filter at the bronchi to simulate a spontaneously breathing child (Vt: 250 mL, RR: 20 bpm and Ti: 1 second) and infant (Vt = 100 mL, RR = 30 bpm, Ti: 0.7 seconds). Albuterol sulfate was nebulized with jet (Misty Max 10; Cardinal Health) and mesh (Aerogen Solo; Aerogen) nebulizers using a low-flow nasal cannula (LFNC; Hudson), a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC; Fisher & Paykel), face mask (FM; Hudson), and mouthpiece (MP; Cardinal Health). While all interfaces were used in the pediatric study, only LFNC, HFNC, and FM were tested in the infant study. The mesh nebulizer was tested at 2, 4, and 6 L/min with LFNC, 4 and 6 L/min with HFNC, and 6 L/min with FM and MP. The jet nebulizer was operated at 6 and 8 L/min with FM and 6 L/min with LFNC, HFNC, and MP (n = 5). The drug was eluted from the filter and analyzed by spectrophotometry. Factorial analysis of variance and post hoc comparisons were used for data analysis. P < .05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Delivery efficiency of mesh nebulizers is two to fourfold more than jet nebulizers used with HFNC, FM, and MP. No statistical difference was found between jet and mesh nebulizers used with LFNC in infants (P = .643) and pediatrics (P = .255). Aerosol delivery with MP was the best compared to other interfaces used in pediatrics (P < .05). As the second-best interface in aerosol drug delivery, the delivery efficiency of FM was greater than HFNC (P = .0001) and LFNC (P = .0001). Increasing flow rate with LFNC and HFNC decreased aerosol delivery with the mesh nebulizer in both infants and pediatrics. CONCLUSION The type of nebulizer, delivery interface, and flow rate used in the treatment of children affect aerosol drug delivery.
Writing, in English, for Publication in Science and Technology, and Policy: The Example of Nuclear Security:

This article considers best practices for writing articles in science, technology, and policy, focusing on writing for international scholarly journals in nuclear security. Its two main audiences a...
Dose‐dependent effect of aerobic exercise on inflammatory biomarkers in a randomized controlled trial of women at high risk of breast cancer

BACKGROUND Increased levels of inflammation are associated with many diseases, including cancer. Physical activity can lower breast cancer risk as well as levels of inflammation. The Women In Steady Exercise Research (WISER) Sister trial was a randomized controlled trial that investigated the effects of a dosed, moderate to vigorous, aerobic exercise intervention on levels of inflammation in premenopausal women who were at high risk of developing breast cancer. METHODS Participants were randomized to control (<75 minutes per week; 41 patients), low-dose exercise (150 minutes per week; 38 patients), or high-dose exercise (300 minutes per week; 37 patients) groups. The 5-menstrual cycles-long, home-based treadmill exercise intervention gradually increased in minutes per week and intensity up to a maximum of 80% of the age-predicted maximum heart rate. Blood was collected at baseline and at follow-up and assayed for chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin 12 (IL-12), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). RESULTS A linear dose-response relationship was observed for the proinflammatory biomarkers CCL2 (%Δ of -5.44% in the control group, -0.03% in the low-dose exercise group, and 1.54% in the high-dose exercise group), IL-12 (%Δ of -21.5% in the control group, 38.2% in the low-dose exercise group, and 25.8% in the high-dose exercise group,) and TNF-α (%Δ of -4.69% in the control group, 9.51% in the low-dose exercise group, and 15.7% in the high-dose exercise group) but not for the anti-inflammatory biomarker IL-10 (%Δ of 5.05% in the control group, 6.05% in the low-dose exercise group, and 10.6% in the high-dose exercise group). For IL-12 and TNF-α, the percentage change was significantly higher in the low-dose (IL-12: P < .001; and TNF-α: P = .01) and high-dose (IL-12: P < .001; and TNF-α: P < .001) exercise groups compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise appeared to increase levels of proinflammatory biomarkers in a dose-dependent manner in a population of healthy women at high risk of developing breast cancer. The results of the current study suggest that for healthy premenopausal women, the mechanism of reduced breast cancer risk observed in physically active individuals may not be a result of reduced levels of inflammation.
Patients' capability, opportunity, motivation, and perception of inpatient hand hygiene.

Background Studies that examine the perceptions and behaviors of patients regarding patient hand hygiene rarely examine the viewpoint of patients about their hand hygiene behavior relative to current resources provided in the hospital. Methods Voluntary interviews that employed a 16-item survey tool were used among patients (N = 107) in outpatient clinics at post-admission visits. The survey was created using the Behavior Change Wheel, Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Behavior model. Patients were asked whether they brought hand sanitizer to the hospital, used hospital resources to clean their hands, and their perspective on patient hand hygiene importance compared with hospital staff, as well as their satisfaction or lack of satisfaction with hand hygiene independence. Results Most of the participants (65, 60.7%) reported that prior to being admitted to the hospital, they were able to maintain cleaning their hands with little or no difficulty. During their admission, only 21 (19.6%) of the participants reported needing little or no assistance. More than one-half of the participants, 34 (31.8%) and 23 (21.5%), respectively, reported, mostly or completely agreeing that the hand hygiene of the health care staff was more important than their own. Close to one-half of the participants (50, 46.7%) reported not being satisfied at all with their ability to maintain their hand hygiene in the hospital, whereas only 10 (9.3%) were very satisfied with their ability to maintain hand hygiene. Conclusions Findings from this study will enhance our understanding of how to incorporate inpatient hand hygiene into existing infection control programs in inpatient settings.
Making Peace with Moral Imperfection

How can we rationally make peace with our past moral failings, while committing to avoid similar mistakes in the future? Is it because we cannot do anything about the past, while the future is still open? Or is it that regret for our past mistakes is psychologically harmful, and we need to forgive ourselves in order to be able to move on? Or is it because moral mistakes enable our moral growth? I argue that these and other answers do not properly resolve the problem of temporal asymmetry in our attitudes toward moral imperfection, and I defend an alternative response, centered on our personal attachments and our biographical identity.
Modeling Consistent Dynamics of Cardiogenic Vibrations in Low-Dimensional Subspace

The seismocardiogram (SCG) measures the movement of the chest wall in response to underlying cardiovascular events. Though this signal contains clinically-relevant information, its morphology is both patient-specific and highly transient. In light of recent work suggesting the existence of population-level patterns in SCG signals, the objective of this study is to develop a method which harnesses these patterns to enable robust signal processing despite morphological variability. Specifically, we introduce seismocardiogram generative factor encoding (SGFE), which models the SCG waveform as a stochastic sample from a low-dimensional subspace defined by a unified set of generative factors. We then demonstrate that during dynamic processes such as exercise-recovery, learned factors correlate strongly with known generative factors including aortic opening (AO) and closing (AC), following consistent trajectories in subspace despite morphological differences. Furthermore, we found that changes in sensor location affect the perceived underlying dynamic process in predictable ways, thereby enabling algorithmic compensation for sensor misplacement during generative factor inference. Mapping these trajectories to AO and AC yielded $R^2$ values from 0.81–0.90 for AO and 0.72–0.83 for AC respectively across five sensor positions. Identification of consistent behavior of SCG signals in low dimensions corroborates the existence of population-level patterns in these signals; SGFE may also serve as a harbinger for processing methods that are abstracted from the time domain, which may ultimately improve the feasibility of SCG utilization in ambulatory and outpatient settings.
Experiential avoidance and the misinterpretation of intrusions as prospective predictors of postpartum obsessive-compulsive symptoms in first-time parents

Abstract It is well established that the transition to new parenthood is associated with the onset or worsening of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS); however, less is known regarding specific risk factors associated with the development of postpartum OCS. The present prospective study examined experiential avoidance and interpretations of intrusive thoughts as predictors of the development of postpartum OCS in first-time mothers and fathers. Participants were 64 expecting parents (33 mothers and 31 partners—all fathers) who were followed from the 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy into the postpartum. All completed measures of postpartum OCS, experiential avoidance, and interpretations of intrusive thoughts. Experiential avoidance and the pre-existing tendency to misinterpret intrusive thoughts were predictors of infant-related OCS in the early postpartum, but not at six months postpartum. These findings provide support for particular psychological risk factors in the development of infant-related OCS among first-time mothers and fathers. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.
Identity Processes in Leader Development

Day, Harrison and Halpin (2009) articulated five variables that frame individual differences in leader development (i.e., self-regulatory strength, goal orientation, self-efficacy, self-awareness, and implementation intentions). Referencing environmental factors, this precis locates self-regulation processes and points up the potential contribution of each to leader development.
K-Group Random Channel Hopping (K-RCH) Rendezvous for Cognitive Radio Networks

The channel-hopping (CH) based rendezvous is an important technique in next-generation wireless cognitive radio networks (CRNs) where spectrum efficiency is desired. It allows unlicensed secondary users (SUs) to dynamically schedule rendezvous channels using their assigned CH sequence. Rendezvous is an essential operation for radios in CRNs to meet and establish a communication link, or find a common channel. Thus, radios can exchange information and communicate on a channel.In this paper, we propose a rendezvous protocol called K-Group Random Channel Hopping (K-RCH) which is based on the symmetric-role model. K-RCH assigns nodes into groups. Each group contains at least two nodes, which means our model is general and can fit both pairwise or multi-user rendezvous. K-RCH increases the chance of rendezvous by synchronizing channel hopping patterns of nodes in the same group and allowing for multi-round rendezvous. K-RCH considers a heterogeneous channel availability model and is suitable for complicated communication environments. Our simulation results show that K-RCH achieves a much shorter rendezvous time than most existing rendezvous protocols. The expected time to rendezvous (ETTR) is reduced by more than 85% as compared to the Jump-Stay strategy and the TENOR protocol. The ETTR decreases with an increasing number of SUs.