cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adolescents' perception of living with end stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND End stage renal disease (ESRD) is a serious chronic condition, requiring life-long treatment and management to survive. It is unclear how the unique developmental needs of adolescents influence their ability to maintain the complex medical treatment regimen associated with ESRD. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of adolescents living with ESRD. Ascertaining the subjective perspectives of the adolescent provides insight into the effects of the chronic condition on their development and well-being. METHOD Q-methodology was used to assess the adolescent's perception of living with ESRD. Thirty-five adolescents, 13 to 18 years, who were on renal dialysis or had received a renal transplant served as participants. FINDINGS The results of the analysis identified four significant factors. The factors represented four distinct perspectives held by these adolescents living with ESRD: (a) normalization, (b) illness intrusion: barrier to normalcy; (c) illness management: parent-focused; and (d) illness management: self-focused. CONCLUSION Overall, the majority of the adolescents in this study held a more positive perspective of living with ESRD than what has been described previously in the literature. The findings of this exploratory study provide direction for future research and nurses in practice.
A direct comparison between conventional and plenoptic background oriented schlieren imaging

The motivation of this work is to compare results from plenoptic and conventional background oriented schlieren (BOS) systems through two experimental configurations using a buoyant thermal plume to produce the inhomogeneous density field. The first set of experiments fixed the nominal focal plane and varied the plume position along the optical axis. The second set of experiments fixed the position of the plume while varying the nominal focal plane. These experiments were used to observe how measurement performance was influenced by (1) spatial resolution, (2) plume position, (3) focal plane position, (4) depth of field, (5) exposure time, and (6) aperture size. It was determined that both imaging systems follow the trend that the signal is dependent on the distance between the background and the plume but relatively independent of the nominal focal plane position. Conventional BOS images result in high-resolution, single line-of-sight measurements with a high signal-to-noise ratio. These images typically require a small aperture with a longer exposure time in order to achieve an appropriate depth of field. Focused BOS images are a result of lower resolution, multiple line-of-sight measurements with lower signal-to-noise ratios compared to that of the conventional system. Images from this system use a larger aperture to more efficiently collect light while still maintaining an extended depth of field.
The Impact of the American Academy of Pediatrics Brief Resolved Unexplained Event Guidelines on Gastrointestinal Testing and Prescribing Practices.

Objectives To determine if hospitalization, testing, diagnosis, and management of suspected gastroesophageal reflux, and follow-up visits decreased since introduction of American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for brief resolved unexplained events (BRUEs). Study design We performed a retrospective cohort study of infants with BRUE evaluated at Boston Children's Hospital in the year before and after guideline implementation to determine if practice patterns have changed. Outcomes included hospitalization rates, frequency of swallow assessments, other diagnostic testing, and reflux diagnoses, cost of care, and number of repeat visits. Groups were compared based on whether they presented before or after guideline implementation. Results In total, 359 subjects (186 pre-, 173 post-guidelines) were identified. There were no significant differences in practice patterns or outcomes before or after guideline implementation. Subjects had mean age 2.53 ± 0.15 months, and 80% were hospitalized for 2.49 ± 0.26 days. Each subject had 2.47 diagnostic tests performed, and 89% were noncontributory. Despite only 13% having videofluoroscopic swallow study performed, 72% showed aspiration/penetration. No subject had gastroesophageal reflux testing, yet reflux was implicated as the cause for admission in 40% of subjects, resulting in increased odds of discharge on acid suppressing medications (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.68-4.92, P = .0001). In follow-up, 28% of subjects had repeat hospitalizations or emergency department visits for persistent symptoms. Conclusions Infants with BRUE continue to undergo low-yield diagnostic testing and after admission remain symptomatic and frequently re-present to medical care. Swallow testing remains infrequent despite its high-yield, reflux continues to be implicated and children are still being discharged on acid suppression despite lack of efficacy.
Understanding polynomial distributed lag models: truncation lag implications for a mosquito-borne disease risk model in Brazil

Using data for the states of Brazil, we construct a polynomial distributed lag model under different truncation lag criteria to predict reported dengue cases. Accurately predicting dengue cases provides the framework to develop forecasting models, which would provide public health professionals time to create targeted interventions for areas at high risk of dengue outbreaks. Others have shown that variables of interest such as temperature and vegetation can be used to predict dengue cases. These models did not detail how truncation lag criteria was chosen for their respective models when polynomial distributed lag was used. We explore current truncation lag selection methods used widely in the literature (marginal and minimized AIC) and determine which of these methods works best for our given data set. While minimized AIC truncation lag selection produced the best fit to our data, this method used substantially more data to inform its prediction compared to the marginal truncation lag selection method. Finally, the following variables were found to be significant predictors of dengue in this region: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), green-based normalized difference water index (NDWI), normalized burn ratio (NBR), and temperature. These best predictors were derived from multispectral remote sensing imagery as well as temperature data.
User Requirements Gathering in mHealth: Perspective from Ghanaian End Users

Understanding user requirements is a fundamental part of information systems design and is key to the success of interactive systems. Factors such as ease of use, cross-cultural interface design are crucial to building usable products that will gain high acceptance among users. Developing a utilizable mobile health application involves applying human-centered design methodologies. However, mHealth applications face usability challenges in terms of their usefulness due to lack of end user inclusion during the design process. In order to investigate usability impact on the end user, this paper examines the challenges and findings from Ghanaian migrant communities in the United States. This paper seeks to contribute to the requirement gathering process by highlighting the needs and noting the challenges in the collection of user requirement data needed to design and develop a targeted mHealth application. The results of gathered user requirements will contribute to informing the design of mobile health interventions tailored for Ghanaian migrants.
MMT Basics and the Sustainability of Money Financed Deficits

MMT is a type of post-Keynesian economics that has two distinctive components: (1) chartalism, a type of state money theory; and (2) functional finance, due to Abba Lerner, the idea that the role of taxes is not to finance spending but rather to inject or drain spending in order to maintain full employment without inflation. These ideas lead MMT advocates to claim that governments that issue sovereign money do not need to pay for spending, imply that the level of government debt has no negative consequences for such countries because such countries “cannot go bankrupt,” and suggest that the central banks’ role is to finance government spending, preferably at permanently low interest rates. This chapter investigates the general validity of these propositions.
Updated material identification from remote sensing of polarized self-emission

An important application for remote sensing is the detection and discrimination of targets of interest. The detection and discrimination problem is not trivial, especially if the target blends with its background or when decoys are deployed. Remote sensing systems can utilize imaging polarimetry to identify the materials from which targets are made. A fundamental property of a material is its complex index of refraction, which can be calculated from the material’s degree of linear polarization (DoLP). Previously, we reported on a technique for estimation of the complex index of refraction (CIR) using measurements of the polarized radiance from a material’s self-emission. The materials were measured with an imaging polarimeter that operates in the mid-wave infrared spectral region. Several improvements to our processes have been implemented since the earlier work and these improved processes have led to improved results, which are detailed in this paper. A larger set of materials was measured and analyzed, including measurements with a new imaging polarimeter, which operates in the long-wave infrared spectral region. We also made improvements to our model for the degree of linear polarization of a material. This model is used in conjunction with the DoLP calculated from the measured data to estimate the CIR, which is a fundamental property of materials and can therefore be used to identify a material. An initial goal of this work is to use the technique to discriminate between metals and dielectrics. We demonstrate the ability to discriminate between metals and dielectrics with the estimated CIR results. There is a clear difference for the estimated index of refraction values, and an even more significant difference for the coefficient of extinction values, obtained for metals versus the values obtained for dielectrics. These differences in estimated values provide a means of discriminating metals from dielectrics.
The hospital response to covid-19 in China

The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was in Wuhan, China. The sudden rise in cases was met with strict isolation and treatment measures. The uniqueness of the Chinese health care system and hospital response may have been instrumental in the early plateauing of cases and deaths. Keywords: COVID-19, China, hospital, Fangcang Keywords: COVID-19, China, hospital, Fangcang
Predictors of Outcomes in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: What Can Be Used Now and What Hope Is in the Future

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained arrhythmia affecting over 30 million patients worldwide with astronomical figures for progression over the next few decades. In this comprehensive review, we have sought to accumulate the factors that determine outcomes of AF. Patient factors such as age, sex, and ethnicity have a vital impact on the incidence and progression of AF, including outcomes of catheter ablation. While the above are non-modifiable, we also provide detailed associations of potentially modifiable comorbidities such as hypertension, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, conduction system disorders, and substance abuse with AF. Beyond patient factors, some parameters related to the AF itself can determine outcomes—such as duration of AF, whether it is paroxysmal or persistent AF and certain critical electrocardiographic patterns that suggest a higher risk of AF recurrence. Imaging modalities such as echocardiography, computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance provide invaluable insights into the progression of AF. We describe the various pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies for AF management with a peek at some futuristic approaches. While each one of these variables could lend themselves for a separate review, we attempted to provide an overview of the most critical predictors of AF outcomes to equip the readers with the latest know-how of the management of AF.
Analogs of nitrofuran antibiotics are potent GroEL/ES inhibitor pro-drugs

In two previous studies, we identified compound 1 as a moderate GroEL/ES inhibitor with weak to moderate antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Acinetobacter baumannii, and SM101 Escherichia coli (which has a compromised lipopolysaccharide biosynthetic pathway making bacteria more permeable to drugs). Extending from those studies, we developed two series of analogs with key substructures resembling those of known antibacterials, nitroxoline (hydroxyquinoline moiety) and nifuroxazide/nitrofurantoin (bis-cyclic-N-acylhydrazone scaffolds). Through biochemical and cell-based assays, we identified potent GroEL/ES inhibitors that selectively blocked E. faecium, S. aureus, and E. coli proliferation with low cytotoxicity to human colon and intestine cells in vitro. Initially, only the hydroxyquinoline-bearing analogs were found to be potent inhibitors in our GroEL/ES-mediated substrate refolding assays; however, subsequent testing in the presence of an E. coli nitroreductase (NfsB) in situ indicated that metabolites of the nitrofuran-bearing analogs were potent GroEL/ES inhibitor pro-drugs. Consequently, this study has identified a new target of nitrofuran-containing drugs, and is the first reported instance of such a unique class of GroEL/ES chaperonin inhibitors. The intriguing results presented herein provide impetus for expanded studies to validate inhibitor mechanisms and optimize this antibacterial class using the respective GroEL/ES chaperonin systems and nitroreductases from E. coli and the ESKAPE bacteria.
Atomistic-Scale Simulations of the Graphene Growth on a Silicon Carbide Substrate Using Thermal Decomposition and Chemical Vapor Deposition

Molecular dynamics (MD) studies of graphene growth at atomistic level can provide valuable insight for understanding its growth mechanism, which is helpful to optimize the growth conditions for syn...
Does College Matter? Exploring College-Level Factors Related to Victimization Risk for U.S. and Canadian College Students:

Research shows that U.S. college students are at risk for a variety of victimization types. College students in Canada also experience similar types of victimization compared to U.S students, yet recent research shows that Canadian students are at a greater risk than U.S. college students of being victimized. Little is known, however, as to whether college-level factors influence victimization risk and how these risks may be different for U.S. and Canadian college students. Using the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment data (ACHA-NCHA II), the current study builds upon past research by exploring the role of both individual and school characteristics and whether they are similarly related to risk of victimization in the two populations. The findings show that Canadian students are at higher risk for victimization and that some school-level factors play a role in predicting this risk for all students, with some variation in ones that matter for each country.
The SE-AssessWrist for robot-aided assessment of wrist stiffness and range of motion: Development and experimental validation.

IntroductionPhysical human-robot interaction offers a compelling platform for assessing recovery from neurological injury; however, robots currently used for assessment have typically been designed...
An Inkjet Printed Ag Strain Gauge on Flexible Cellophane using a Metal-Salt based Ink

In this work, a flexible, inkjet-printed silver (Ag) strain gauge on cellophane tape fabricated using a particle-free, metal salt based ink is introduced. The printing process bypasses traditional thermal sintering by using low-pressure plasma reduction in argon. The effect of plasma treatment time on the resistance and Gauge Factor (GF) is investigated. The highest measured GF was ~6 for a 5-minute plasma exposure. As plasma time is lengthened, the resistance of the printed structures decreases and the GF decreases to 1. Cyclic mechanical testing is performed so as to evaluate the stability of Ag-based strain gauge under dynamic loads.
Effect of church attendance during youth on future psychological capital endowments: the US evidence

Using US data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and following propensity score matching analysis, the study demonstrates that church attendance during youth has significant positive ef...
The Impact of Demographics on Productivity and Inflation in Japan

Is Japan's aging and, more recently, declining population hampering growth and reflation efforts? Exploiting demographic and economic variation in prefectural data between 1990 and 2007, we find that aging of the working age population has had a significant negative impact on total factor productivity. Moreover, prefectures that aged at a faster pace experienced lower overall inflation, while prefectures with higher population growth experienced higher inflation. The results give strong support to the notion that demographic headwinds can have a non-trivial impact on total factor productivity and deflationary pressures.
STFM FOUNDATION DEVELOPS WEBINAR SERIES ON ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP

The STFM New Faculty Scholars Scholarship Webinar Series was created as part of the STFM Foundation New Faculty Scholars Program, ( ) which develops leadership and scholarship skills in a cohort of early career
PTEN expression and morphological patterns in prostatic adenocarcinoma.

AIMS Cribriform morphology, which includes intraductal carcinoma (IDCP) and invasive cribriform carcinoma, is an indicator of poor prognosis in prostate cancer. Phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) loss is a predictor of adverse clinical outcomes. The association between PTEN expression and morphological patterns of prostate cancer is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We explored the association between PTEN expression by immunohistochemistry, Gleason pattern 4 morphologies, IDCP and biochemical recurrence (BCR) in 163 radical prostatectomy specimens. IDCP was delineated from invasive cribriform carcinoma by p63 positive immunohistochemical staining in basal cells. Combined invasive cribriform carcinoma and IDCP were associated with a higher cumulative incidence of BCR [hazard ratio (HR) = 5.06; 2.21, 11.6, P < 0.001]. When including PTEN loss in the analysis, invasive cribriform carcinoma remained predictive of BCR (HR = 3.72; 1.75, 7.94, P = 0.001), while PTEN loss within invasive cribriform carcinoma did not. Glomeruloid morphology was associated with lower odds of cancer stage pT3 and lower cumulative incidence of BCR (HR = 0.27; 0.088, 0.796, P = 0.018), while PTEN loss within glomeruloid morphology was associated with a higher cumulative incidence of BCR (HR = 4.07; 1.04, 15.9, P = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS PTEN loss within glomeruloid pattern was associated with BCR. The presence of any cribriform pattern was associated with BCR, despite PTEN loss not significantly associated with invasive cribriform carcinoma. We speculate that other drivers independent from PTEN loss may contribute to poor prognostic features in cribriform carcinoma.
Tracing the Unique Contours of Administrative Justice: Reconceptualizing the Judicial Model for Administrative Law

The administrative judicial system operates within the executive branch as a part of the broader program of administrative law. The administrative law system, in turn, in advancing its purpose functionally adopts the three basic functions of government: legislative (through its rule making power); executive (through administration and policing functions); and the judicial (adjudicating conflicts and determining the facts in cases and controversies). It is in the administrative judicial system's resemblance to the judicial branch of government that confusion arises. Specifically, because it handles issues in an adjudicatory format similar to Article III type courts, agencies and advocates have supported the development of a system drawing upon many of the techniques of Art. III courts. This has, however, led to an implicit assumption of equivalence of roles and functions that in turn leads to a level of confusion about the proper role and nature of the administrative law tribunal. In this article, I will challenge this assumption of literal correspondence and attempt to develop a more accurate conceptual model of the administrative judicial system that can, in turn, help address the many ethical and practical challenges involved in managing and administering administrative justice. To do so, I will focus upon the adversarial model underlying the American judicial system and question its applicability to administrative justice. I will then consider the possible insights offered by the Continental inquisitorial system of justice and conclude by suggesting the application of a hybrid independent fact finder model, which I will describe and develop in broad outline. Summarizing the American administrative judicial system is fraught with difficulties, given the wide diversity of tribunals within the system. The object of this effort, however, will be to develop a conceptual model for the administrative judicial system that reflects not only the idealistic goals of justice, but does so within the actual practices of a majority of administrative tribunals.
Omega-3 fatty acids in boys with behavior, learning, and health problems.

The purpose of the study reported here was to compare behavior, learning, and health problems in boys ages 6 to 12 with lower plasma phospholipid total omega-3 or total omega-6 fatty acid levels with those boys with higher levels of these fatty acids. A greater frequency of symptoms indicative of essential fatty acid deficiency was reported by the parents of subjects with lower plasma omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acid concentrations than those with higher levels. A greater number of behavior problems, assessed by the Conners' Rating Scale, temper tantrums, and sleep problems were reported in subjects with lower total omega-3 fatty acid concentrations. Additionally, more learning and health problems were found in subjects with lower total omega-3 fatty acid concentrations. (Only more colds and more antibiotic use were reported by those subjects with lower total omega-6 fatty acids.) These findings are discussed in relation to recent findings for omega-3 experimentally deprived animals.
Effects of neonatal inflammation on descending modulation from the rostroventromedial medulla.

Cutaneous tissue inflammation during the first postnatal week is known to alter long-term development of spinal cord nociceptive circuitry and to alter behavioral responses to noxious stimuli in adult animals. The impact of neonatal inflammation on descending projections arising from supraspinal sites that modulate spinal nociceptive processing is unknown. In the present study, we investigated if altered behavioral responses to pain in adult animals after neonatal inflammation are associated with changes in descending modulation of nocifensive responses elicited from the rostroventromedial medulla (RVM) in lightly anesthetized rats. Compared to handled control animals, hindpaw injection of 0.25% carrageenan (CG) at postnatal day 3 produced adult basal hypoalgesia and increased hyperalgesia 24 h after reinflammation with Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) in awake animals. These effects were specific to the neonatally treated hindpaw, partially replicating previous findings, but were absent in lightly anesthetized animals. However, focal electrical stimulation of the RVM in lightly anesthetized CG treated animals produced significantly greater descending inhibition of nocifensive responses to noxious thermal stimuli applied to the hindpaws and the tail. These effects were partially replicated by intra-RVM microinjection of AMPA. No differences in the efficacy of RVM stimulation between CG and control animals were observed 24 h after reinflammation with CFA. These findings indicate that neonatal tissue injury and inflammation produces lasting alterations in descending modulatory systems that modify nociceptive processing. Taken together with previous studies, these results indicate that changes in pain sensitivity following neonatal tissue injury involve long-term alterations in spinal and supraspinal circuitry.
STRUCTURE OF THE PISUM SATIVUM SEED LIPOXYGENASE GENE LOX1:PS:3

Abstract We have isolated the Pisum sativum (pea) lox1:Ps :3 gene which encodes a lipoxy genase that is 84% identical in coding sequence to the LOX-3 gene from Glycine max (soybean). The 10028 bp sequence includes 5895 bp 5' to the transcription start site and 707 bp 3' to the stop codon. The coding region of lox1:Ps :3 contains eight introns, at positions equivalent to those in the soybean LOX-3 and L-4, the Phaseolus vulgaris (Frenchbean) LOX1, and the Pisum sativum lox1:Ps :2 genes. The first intron is unusually small. The 5'-flanking sequence contains two regions that have the potential to form hairpin structures, but few motifs known to interact with transcription factors. Despite their similarity in terms of expression, the lox1:Ps :3 and lox1:Ps :2 genes have little similarity within their 5'-flanking regions.
Diabetes Mellitus in the Next Decade: Novel Pipeline Medications to Treat Hyperglycemia

Despite a rapid increase in the number of drugs available to treat hyperglycemia there remain several unmet needs in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. There have also been tremendous advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes, allowing the recognition of novel treatment targets. The purpose of this review is to highlight some of the novel approaches that are being developed to improve glucose control in patients with diabetes.
Compressive parameter estimation with multiple measurement vectors via structured low-rank covariance estimation

In this paper, we study the problem of frequency estimation from partial observations of multiple measurement vectors under a sparsity constraint. We develop a two-step approach which first estimates a low-rank Hermitian Toeplitz covariance matrix from the partially observed sample covariance matrix via convex optimization, then recovers the set of frequencies via conventional spectrum estimation methods such as MUSIC. Our method doesn’t assume discretization of the underlying frequencies, therefore overcomes the basis mismatch problem in conventional compressed sensing [1], and can possibly recover a higher number of frequencies than the number of samples per measurement vector. Numerical examples are provided to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, with comparisons against several existing approaches.
Hyaluronan and tumor growth.

The study published in this issue of The American Journal of Pathology by Simpson et al 1 adds a new dimension to the role of hyaluronan in cancer by demonstrating that inhibition of endogenous hyaluronan synthesis dramatically reduces tumor growth in vivo. In previous studies, these investigators showed that aggressive PC3M-LN4 human prostate carcinoma cells contain two of the three synthases that synthesize hyaluronan, namely HAS2 and HAS3, and that transfectants of PC3M-LN4 with antisense to HAS2 and HAS3 mRNA synthesized significantly less hyaluronan. 2,3 In the present study, stable transfectants with antisense-HAS2 and antisense-HAS3 were used alone or in combination to study tumor growth after subcutaneous injection in immunocompromised mice. The antisense-HAS transfectants produced tumors that were three to four times smaller than control tumors after 3 weeks. Although inhibition of hyaluronan synthesis reduced rates of cell proliferation in culture, the antisense-HAS transfectant tumors contained similar proportions of dividing and apoptopic cells as did the control tumors at 3 weeks. This finding suggests that the reduced size of the antisense-HAS transfectant tumors is due to reduced rates of growth early in development of the tumor. The authors also found that blood vessel density was diminished by 70 to 80%, implying that hyaluronan levels may be an important determinant of vascularity, and that this rather than proliferation is the predominant factor in the effect of hyaluronan on tumor growth in this model. Interestingly, inclusion of exogenous hyaluronan with the initial injection of the transfected tumor cells restored levels of tumor growth and vascularity to those seen in control tumors, suggesting that early angiogenic events may be crucial. Numerous other studies have demonstrated a close correlation between tumor progression and hyaluronan production, either by tumor cells themselves or by stromal cells associated with tumors. This correlation has been observed in cell culture, in experimental animal models, and in human patients. In fact, recent work shows that hyaluronan content correlates with increased progression in several cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and colorectal cancers. 4,5 In addition to the observation that hyaluronan is present in elevated amounts in numerous types of tumors, experimental manipulations of hyaluronan levels and interactions suggest a vital role for hyaluronan in promoting malignant cell behavior in vitro and in vivo. For example, experimental elevation of hyaluronan production in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells or TSU human prostate carcinoma cells enhances growth in vivo. 6,7 Also, low producers of hyaluronan selected from a population of mammary carcinoma cells are less metastatic than high producers, and metastatic capacity was restored to the low producers by elevating their hyaluronan production. 8
The Challenges for Faculty Using Interactive Television in Distance Education

Distance education (DE) is increasingly popular in the United States as a way for professional schools to attempt to respond to workforce needs and improve student access to higher education. Students unable to attend face-to-face classes for reasons such as geographical distance, diversity, and economics, among others, benefit from being able to stay in their communities and obtain an education. Interactive television, or ITV, is a DE technology which is live and takes place in real time, making it especially useful for teaching practice classes. This paper reviews the research on DE and ITV, including their definitions and histories, and discusses the advantages and challenges of using ITV.
An Experimental Study of the Dynamic Elasto-Plastic Contact Behavior of Dimer Metallic Granules

Studying the dynamic elasto-plastic contact behavior of dimer metallic granules, defined as contacting beads of either different size or material, is important for understanding the behavior of heterogeneous granular systems such as periodic or multi-phase systems. In this paper, the dynamic contact response of dimer bead pairs was experimentally studied using a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus. Two types of dimer combinations were subjected to dynamic loading: dimers with the same bead size but different materials (material dimers), and dimers of the same material but different size (size dimers). Dynamic elasto-plastic contact force-displacement curves, post mortem images of yielded contact area, residual contact deformation, and energy absorption during the impact process were measured in each case. It was found that the dynamic contact behavior of the material dimers is controlled by the material with lower yield strength, and can be well described by existing elasto-plastic contact models. In contrast, the size dimers show a complex deformation process that cannot be described by current theoretical models. It was also seen that the strain rate sensitivity of the material itself affects the dynamic yield process of size dimer pairs, and their radius ratio shows a linear effect on the residual deformation and energy transmitted ratio.
Compressive forces induce osteogenic gene expression in calvarial osteoblasts

Bone cells and their precursors are sensitive to changes in their biomechanical environment. The importance of mechanical stimuli has been observed in bone homeostasis and osteogenesis, but the mechanisms responsible for osteogenic induction in response to mechanical signals are poorly understood. We hypothesized that compressive forces could exert an osteogenic effect on osteoblasts and act in a dose-dependent manner. To test our hypothesis, electrospun poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds were used as a 3-D microenvironment for osteoblast culture. The scaffolds provided a substrate allowing cell exposure to levels of externally applied compressive force. Pre-osteoblasts adhered, proliferated and differentiated in the scaffolds and showed extensive matrix synthesis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and increased Young's modulus (136.45+/-9.15 kPa) compared with acellular scaffolds (24.55+/-8.5 kPa). Exposure of cells to 10% compressive strain (11.81+/-0.42 kPa) resulted in a rapid induction of bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and MAD homolog 5 (Smad5). These effects further enhanced the expression of genes and proteins required for extracellular matrix (ECM) production, such as alkaline phosphatase (Akp2), collagen type I (Col1a1), osteocalcin/bone gamma carboxyglutamate protein (OC/Bglap), osteonectin/secreted acidic cysteine-rich glycoprotein (ON/Sparc) and osteopontin/secreted phosphoprotein 1 (OPN/Spp1). Exposure of cell-scaffold constructs to 20% compressive strain (30.96+/-2.82 kPa) demonstrated that these signals are not osteogenic. These findings provide the molecular basis for the experimental and clinical observations that appropriate physical activities or microscale compressive loading can enhance fracture healing due in part to the anabolic osteogenic effects.
A Multiyear Citation Analysis of Three Rehabilitation Journals

Using citation analysis, 3 rehabilitation journals were compared on average number of articles published per year, average number of references per article, number of self-citations, and number of times published articles were cited by other journals for the 4-year periods of 1999 through 2002 and 1977 through 1980. These data were then related to establishing journal quality.
A high responsivity, low-noise germanium bolometer for the far infrared

Abstract A p-type compensated germanium bolometer operating at 0.1 K is found to have a responsivity of 2.8×107 V/W and an estimated limiting NEP of 3x10-16 W/(Hz) 1 2 .
RABBIT: rapid alignment of brains by building intermediate templates

This paper proposes a brain image registration algorithm, called RABBIT, which achieves fast and accurate image registration by using an intermediate template generated by a statistical shape deformation model during the image registration procedure. The statistical brain shape deformation information is learned by means of principal component analysis (PCA) from a set of training brain deformations, each of them linking a selected template to an individual brain sample. Using the statistical deformation information, the template image can be registered to a new individual image by optimizing a statistical deformation model with a small number of parameters, thus generating an intermediate template very close to the individual brain image. The remaining shape difference between the intermediate template and the individual brain is then minimized by a general registration algorithm, such as HAMMER. With the help of the intermediate template, the registration between the template and individual brain images can be achieved fast and with similar registration accuracy as HAMMER. The effectiveness of the RABBIT has been evaluated by using both simulated atrophy data and real brain images. The experimental results show that RABBIT can achieve over five times speedup, compared to HAMMER, without losing any registration accuracy or statistical power in detecting brain atrophy.
In Defense of Valid Design as a Policy Rule

Taking aim at the normative status of what he terms the “consensus rules” of human subjects research, Sachs (2010) rejects the idea that these rules, as set forth in canonical codes of conduct, can...
Cretinism: influence on rate-limiting enzymes of amine synthesis in rat brain.

Abstract The effect of neonatal hypothyroidism on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) activity, as well as on water content, was studied in different regions of the developing rat brain. Neonatal hypothyroidism, induced by daily treatment with propylthiouracil starting at birth, led to a cretinoid syndrome with a marked impairment of body and brain growth. Compared to control littermates, 30- and 45-day-old cretinous rats had elevated levels of water in the brain stem. The activities of TH and TPH were increased in a time-dependent manner in the brain stem, basal ganglia and hypothalamus of maturing cretinous animals. The increased activity of these rate-limiting enzymes of mono-amine synthesis may account for the elevated levels of brain norepi-nephrine and serotonin in rats subjected to neonatal hypothyroidism.
Low Temperature Deposition of High Dielectric Constant Thin Films for Decoupling Capacitor Applications

High dielectric constant thin films for packaging applications were studied. Compared with polycrystalline or epitaxial ferroelectric thin films amorphous ferroelectric films are a promising alternative because of their ease of processing and low leakage current. Reactive Partially Ionized Beam deposition (RPIB) offers a new approach to deposit high dielectric constant films at a low substrate temperature. As an example, the growth of amorphous BaTiO3 thin films using RPIB deposition is described. The films were characterized in terms of dielectric constant and leakage current. The annealing effects on the film properties are also discussed.
Profiles of motivated self-regulation in college computer science courses: Differences in major versus required non-major courses.

The goal of the present study was to utilize a profiling approach to understand differences in motivation and strategic self-regulation among post-secondary STEM students in major versus required non-major computer science courses. Participants were 233 students from required introductory computer science courses (194 men; 35 women; 4 unknown) at a large Midwestern state university. Cluster analysis identified five profiles: (1) a strategic profile of a highly motivated by-any-means good strategy user; (2) a knowledge-building profile of an intrinsically motivated autonomous, mastery-oriented student; (3) a surface learning profile of a utility motivated minimally engaged student; (4) an apathetic profile of an amotivational disengaged student; and (5) a learned helpless profile of a motivated but unable to effectively self-regulate student. Among CS majors and students in courses in their major field, the strategic and knowledge-building profiles were the most prevalent. Among non-CS majors and students in required non-major courses, the learned helpless, surface learning, and apathetic profiles were the most prevalent. Students in the strategic and knowledge-building profiles had significantly higher retention of computational thinking knowledge than students in other profiles. Students in the apathetic and surface learning profiles saw little instrumentality of the course for their future academic and career objectives. Findings show that students in STEM fields taking required computer science courses exhibit the same constellation of motivated strategic self-regulation profiles found in other post-secondary and K-12 settings.
Comparative effects of chemosterilants on spermatogenic stages in the house fly I. Induction of dominant lethal mutations in mature sperm and gonial cell death

Abstract Adult house flies, Musca domestica L., were treated with 12 chemosterilants: 6 aziridines (apholate, tepa, tretamine, 2 bifunctional carboxamines—ENT-50838 and ENT-50172—and the bifunctional compound ENT-51909); 3 ethanesulfonates (2 bifunctional compounds and the monofunctional compound, EMS); hempa, nitrogen mustard, and diepoxybutane. Dominant lethal mutations in the mature sperm were measured and gonial cell killing was studied cytologically. At the minimum doses that induced dominant lethal mutations in all the sperm, some compounds, usually the aziridines and hempa, killed all the gonial cells and no sign of any spermatogenic activity was found in testes 14 days post-treatment. With the sulfonates, there was no destruction of gonial cells and a completely normal level of spermatogenic activity was found even though dominant lethals were induced in the sperm. In fact, with methanediol dimethanesulfonate (ENT-51799), doses that were 4 times higher than the sterilizing dose for mature sperm failed to kill gonial cells. Configuration of the carrier molecule also played an important role in determining the effects on gonial cells. Since recovery of fertility is associated with survival of gonial cells and continued spermatogenic activity, all 12 compounds could be classified as those that would: (1) permit no recovery, (2) permit complete recovery, or (3) those in which recovery of fertility was most likely.
Altered neural connectivity in excitatory and inhibitory cortical circuits in autism

Converging evidence from diverse studies suggests that atypical brain connectivity in autism affects in distinct ways short- and long-range cortical pathways, disrupting neural communication and the balance of excitation and inhibition. This hypothesis is based mostly on functional non-invasive studies that show atypical synchronization and connectivity patterns between cortical areas in children and adults with autism. Indirect methods to study the course and integrity of major brain pathways at low resolution show changes in fractional anisotropy or diffusivity of the white matter in autism. Findings in post-mortem brains of adults with autism provide evidence of changes in the fine structure of axons below prefrontal cortices, which communicate over short- or long-range pathways with other cortices and subcortical structures. Here we focus on evidence of cellular and axon features that likely underlie the changes in short- and long-range communication in autism. We review recent findings of changes in the shape, thickness, and volume of brain areas, cytoarchitecture, neuronal morphology, cellular elements, and structural and neurochemical features of individual axons in the white matter, where pathology is evident even in gross images. We relate cellular and molecular features to imaging and genetic studies that highlight a variety of polymorphisms and epigenetic factors that primarily affect neurite growth and synapse formation and function in autism. We report preliminary findings of changes in autism in the ratio of distinct types of inhibitory neurons in prefrontal cortex, known to shape network dynamics and the balance of excitation and inhibition. Finally we present a model that synthesizes diverse findings by relating them to developmental events, with a goal to identify common processes that perturb development in autism and affect neural communication, reflected in altered patterns of attention, social interactions, and language.
Complete lymph node dissection for sentinel node-positive melanoma: assessment of practice patterns in the United States.

Background Currently, complete lymph node dissection (CLND) is recommended after identification of a metastatic lymph node by sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). Guidelines suggest that CLND should be performed as a separate procedure, and a sufficient number of nodes should be examined. Our objective was to examine the utilization, timing, and adequacy of CLND for melanoma in the United States.
Prioritization And Classification Of Infrared Detections Using Dynamic Belief

A method which forms beliefs and priorities for long range detected objects in Infrared imagery is described. Features such as the motion, context, and crude shape are used to form positive and negative evidence of the priority and class of the detections. The features that are used are described along with the method for calculating them. Two methods that determine the detection priority and class belief are also described and the result of using this belief system on several cinematic sequences is shown.
Consequences of growth at two carbon dioxide concentrations and two temperatures for leaf gas exchange in Pascopyrum smithii (C3) and Bouteloua gracilis (C4)

Continually rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and possible climatic change may cause significant changes in plant communities. This study was undertaken to investigate gas exchange in two important grass species of the short-grass steppe, Pascopyrum smithii (western wheat-grass), C3, and Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama), C4, grown at different CO2 concentrations and temperatures. Intact soil cores containing each species were extracted from grasslands in north-eastern Colorado, USA, placed in growth chambers, and grown at combinations of two CO2 concentrations (350 and 700 μmol mol−1) and two temperature regimes (field average and elevated by 4°C). Leaf gas exchange was measured during the second, third and fourth growth seasons. All plants exhibited higher leaf CO2 assimilation rates (A) with increasing measurement CO2 concentration, with greater responses being observed in the cool-season C3 species P. smithii. Changes in the shape of intercellular CO2 response curves of A for both species indicated photosynthetic acclimation to the different growth environments. The photosynthetic capacity of P. smithii leaves tended to be reduced in plants grown at high CO2 concentrations, although A for plants grown and measured at 700μmol mol−1 CO2 was 41% greater than that in plants grown and measured at 350 μmol mol−1 CO2. Low leaf N concentration may have contributed to photosynthetic acclimation to CO2. A severe reduction in photosynthetic capacity was exhibited in P. smithii plants grown long-term at elevated temperatures. As a result, the potential response of photosynthesis to CO2 enrichment was reduced in P. smithii plants grown long-term at the higher temperature.
Sexual reproduction in solitary corals: Synchronous gametogenesis and broadcast spawning in Paracyathus stearnsii

Samples of the temperate solitary coral Paracyathus stearnsii Verrill, 1869 were collected monthly or bimonthly from January 1977 to September 1978 off the California coast. This species is gonochoric and reproduces only sexually. Females produce a large number of small eggs (ca. 105 per polyp) in gametogenic synchrony and both sexes spawn between February and May. A small planktonic planula (ca. 160 μm long) develops following external fertilization. Broadcast spawning with planktonic development may be more common than previously assumed in scleractinians, and includes both lecithotrophic and planktotrophic larvae.