cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application ISO/IEC17025 standard based on CDCMIS platform

This article introduced the method requirement of application of ISO/IEC17025 standard based on the CDCMIS platform,which was developed voluntarily by Hefei Center for Disense Control and Prevention.During the quality management,it took the laboratory work as a main body,and formulated quality management system according to actual situation.
Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome with Hypoglycemia Associated with Calcification of the Tumor and its Metastases

The course of this patient with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is notable for its longevity as well as for the calcification of the tumor and its metastases. In addition to the clinical effects of excess gastrin, hypoglycemia was a major problem in this patient.
MRS in Motor Neuron Diseases

Upper motor neurons (UMN) in the motor cortex and/or lower motor neurons (LMN) in the brainstem and spinal cord are affected in a heterogeneous group of related or pathologically similar adult-onset diseases, collectively termed as motor neuron diseases (MND). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most predominant (85 %) among MND in which both UMN and LMN progressively degenerate. The etiology of ALS is not known in approximately 90 % of patients; however, inheritance of genetic mutations underlies in about 10 % of them. To date, neither conventional neuroimaging techniques nor laboratory tests of body fluids or biopsy samples yielded definitive biomarkers for ALS. Furthermore, molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in this disease remain poorly understood. Proton MRS is well suited to quantify metabolite alterations in the brain, and it has been used on patients with ALS in an effort to gain insight into the pathophysiology of ALS. A brief description on MND and their subtypes, limitations of clinical neuroimaging methods to diagnose ALS, a number of brain metabolites that can be quantified by in vivo MRS and their relevance to MND, and MRS techniques and their limitations are provided. Use of a whole-brain MRSI approach to fully characterize changes within the brain due to disease is described with a sample dataset obtained in a patient with ALS. Changes in the concentration or ratio of brain metabolites in patients with ALS and their pathophysiological significances are described. Finally, the use of MRS methods for longitudinal and therapeutic evaluation studies and future perspectives are discussed.
Final Thoughts: Globalization and Migration

This chapter summarizes the major changes San Cosmeros/as have experienced and how they have dealt with them since the 1940s—at home, in the United States, and at home again. Although Mexicans have migrated to the United States for at least hundred years, globalization has led to a greatly increased acceleration of migration of men and women from more communities, including Mazatecochco, and to more regions of the United States. More recently, it has led to the return of many of these migrants. Today San Cosmeros/as are returning to a community and region that is experiencing economic growth that is conducive to migrant investment. The chapter concludes with a discussion of what lessons for the future are suggested by the migration experience of San Cosmeros/as.
Specification and analysis of concurrent systems using STOCS model

The author presents a synchronous token-based communicating state (STOCS) model for specification and analysis of concurrent systems. The STOCS model attempts to combine algebraic and net-theoretic approaches for the study of concurrent systems. It shares the notion of tokens, transitions and reachability with the net theory and the notions of processes, interactions and traces with the algebraic theory of concurrent systems. It is shown that it has the same power as that of Petri nets but is more convenient for modeling and analysis. The author presents many examples of modeling by STOCS. He also presents techniques to analyze systems expressed in STOCS model for their correctness. A STOCS simulation and analysis package is implemented on Unix 4.2 BSD. >
Ultrasound-Guided Radial Artery Compression to Assess Blood Pressure.

Background We propose using compression sonography to observe the deformation and collapse of the radial artery as a surrogate for automated cuff blood pressures. We hypothesize that the pressure required to achieve coaptation and complete collapse of the artery will correlate to the diastolic and systolic blood pressure, respectively. Objective Our primary aim was to assess the feasibility of Ultrasound-guided Radial Artery Compression (URAC) for blood pressure measurement. Our secondary aim was to compare patient comfort levels during automated cuff and URAC measurements. Methods This was a prospective cohort study with a convenience sampling of 25 adult patients at a single urban ED. URAC pressure was measured followed by cuff manometry on the same arm. A 100mL NS bag was connected to the Stryker pressure monitor and placed on the volar wrist. Pressure was applied to the bag with a linear transducer and the radial artery was observed for coaptation of the anterior and posterior walls (diastolic pressure) and complete collapse (systolic pressure). Pressures were subsequently recorded. Patient level of comfort was also documented during the URAC method, with patients reporting either ‘more’, ‘same’ or ‘less’ comfort in comparison to automated cuffs. Data were analyzed using intraclass correlation and paired t-tests. Results The mean cuff systolic BP was 138.6 ± 22.1 mmHg compared to 126.9 ± 19.8 mmHg for the URAC systolic BP(p=0.02). For diastolic blood pressure, there was no significant difference between the cuff BP and the URAC BP (83.7 ± 13.0 cuff vs. 86.5 ± 19.8 URAC, p=0.46). The intraclass correlation (ICC) for systolic BP was 0.48 (p=0.04) and 0.57 (p=0.02) for diastolic BP. 80% (20/25) of subjects found the URAC method more comfortable than the cuff measurement, and the remainder found it the same (5/20). Conclusion This preliminary study concluded there was a statistically significant moderate correlation between automated cuff and URAC measurements, though stronger for the diastolic measurement. Additionally, most patients found the URAC method more comfortable than traditional cuff measurements. Compression ultrasonography shows promise as a surrogate for BP measurement, though future studies are needed.
Grace, Equity, Participation: The Economy of God in 2 Corinthians 8:8-15

This essay considers Paul's first-century “fundraising missive” in 2 Corinthians 8–9, focusing on 2 Corinthians 8:8–15. In it, Paul poses three hermeneutical puzzles around grace, equity, and parti...
Making Connections: Advancing Healthcare Research Via Consumer Mobile Devices.

By numerous measures, the smartphones in our pockets and pocketbooks have more computing power than the supercomputers of the 1990s. Smartphones provide a general platform for software applications and host a suite of sensors, including location and activity sensing. Smartphones have become ubiquitous in the developed world. They are nearly always on and always nearby. As such, smartphones provide rich opportunities for healthcare research—and for promising directions in health and wellness more generally. See Article by Nguyen et al The article, by Nguyen et al,1 published in this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes , highlights the untapped potential of bringing together smartphones, online survey tools, and electronic health records for healthcare research and delivery. The authors present research on tracking hospitalizations via the use of smartphones and online surveys. Identifying hospitalizations in an accurate and efficient manner could help with tracking and understanding the incidence of disease, adverse outcomes of medical interventions, and recurrence of illness. Developing a low-cost and accurate means of tracking significant hospitalizations, such as admissions for acute cardiovascular events, would enable new kinds of studies. Although visits to hospitals are tracked in electronic medical records, the approach presented by the authors offers a holistic view on hospitalizations that span multiple medical facilities and healthcare networks. A key contribution of the work by Nguyen et al1 is a characterization of the effectiveness of a version of geofencing—the use of location services to identify when people enter an area of interest. In a multiyear study, volunteer participants aged ≥18 years installed a special application on their phones. The application uses the global positioning system and cell tower triangulation to identify regions near hospitals, per a predetermined set of stored locations. When a participant using the application is detected within a …
Dual measurement self-sensing technique of NiTi actuators for use in robust control

Using a shape memory alloy actuator as both an actuator and a sensor provides huge benefits in cost reduction and miniaturization of robotic devices. Despite much effort, reliable and robust self-sensing (using the actuator as a position sensor) had not been achieved for general temperature, loading, hysteresis path, and fatigue conditions. Prior research has sought to model the intricacies of the electrical resistivity changes within the NiTi material. However, for the models to be solvable, nearly every previous technique only models the actuator within very specific boundary conditions. Here, we measure both the voltage across the entire NiTi wire and of a fixed-length segment of it; these dual measurements allow direct calculation of the actuator length without a material model. We review previous self-sensing literature, illustrate the mechanism design that makes the new technique possible, and use the dual measurement technique to determine the length of a single straight wire actuator under controlled conditions. This robust measurement can be used for feedback control in unknown ambient and loading conditions.
Improving Long-Term Outcomes After Sepsis

Although acute survival from sepsis has improved in recent years, a large fraction of sepsis survivors experience poor long-term outcomes. In particular, sepsis survivors have high rates of weakness, cognitive impairment, hospital readmission, and late death. To improve long-term outcomes, in-hospital care should focus on early, effective treatment of sepsis; minimization of delirium, distress, and immobility; and preparing patients for hospital discharge. In the posthospital setting, medical care should focus on addressing new disability and preventing medical deterioration, providing a sustained period out of the hospital to allow for recovery.
Driver Behavior, Dilemma Zone, and Capacity at Red Light Camera Equipped Intersections

Driver behavior at an intersection equipped with a Red Light Camera (RLC) is one of the main factors contributing to the safety and operation of the intersection. A drivers’ decision whether to proceed through the intersection or stop when the signal changes from green to yellow depends on a number of factors, such as speed, geometric characteristics, driver’s attitude, to name a few. The decision with respect to the yellow signal may lead to traffic conflicts such as rear end and right angle collisions. Driver behavior when faced with a yellow signal can be viewed as a binary choice process, where the main decisions are either to stop or proceed through the intersection. In this paper, a discrete choice model of the stopping probability is developed using vehicles’ speed and distance from the stop bar when the driver is exposed to the yellow signal. A binary choice model is developed using the probability of stopping to the yellow signal as a function of approach speed, distance from intersection, and presence of a RLC. The existence of the Dilemma Zone (DZ) is estimated using dilemma zone curves developed from the probability of stopping vs. distance from stop bar at the onset of the yellow interval. The paper also presents a new approach to calculate the change in intersection capacity resulting from drivers stopping at the intersection at the onset of yellow interval.
Least Cost Acceptance Sampling Plans for Destructive Testing

An approach is developed for the selection of the least cost acceptance sampling plan for cases in which the strength of material or the length of life is controlled and which requires destructive testing. The total cost, consisting of the cost of sampl..
Proteolytic activity directed toward pigment epithelium-derived factor in vitreous of bovine eyes. Implications of proteolytic processing.

Puzpose. Experiments were designed to identify proteolytic activities that cleave pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a member of the serpin (serine protease inhibitor) family. Methods. Proteins in vitreous humor from bovine eyes were analyzed by Western blot with antiserum to human recombinant PEDF protein. Protein fractionation was by ammonium sulfate saturation and by S-Sepharose column chromatography. Proteolytic activities were determined by gelatin zymography and by solution assays against PEDF or chromogenic peptide substrates. Results. PEDF protein was identified and purified to near homogeneity from vitreous humor of bovine eyes. Limited proteolysis showed that the vitreal protein has a protease-sensitive region at its serpin-exposed peptide loop. Proteolytic activities that cleave the PEDF 49.5 kDa-polypeptide were identified only when proteins from these extracts were separated by 45% to 70% ammonium sulfate fractionation (P 70 ). The degradation product had an apparent molecular weight of 46 kDa. This result is consistent with cleavage at the serpin-exposed loop. The PEDF-cleavage activity in P 70 was inhibited specifically by the serine protease inhibitor 4-(2-aminoethyl)-benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF), but not by aprotinin, EDTA, or pepstatin. The vitreal P 70 extracts contained 49- and 53-kDa gelatinolytic activities that also were inhibited by AEBSF and not by EDTA, aprotinin, or pepstatin. The PEDF-cleavage activity did not hydrolyze substrates for thrombin, factor Xa, α-chymotrypsin, trypsin, or plasmin, nor did it immunoreact with antibody to urokinase plasminogen activator. Conclusions. These data indicated that vitreous has a serine-proteolytic activity associated with a novel 49/53-kDa enzyme that cleaves the PEDF protein in a serpinase fashion. In addition to cleavage in vitro, these proteases might play a role in modulating PEDF in vivo.
Criticism and Its Analysis

In drawing this phase of the author’s research effort to a close, it appeared as if his foreground presentation and solution might perhaps be a bit too neat, and so may have misled the reader into thinking that this research has gained universal acceptance, and that it has been, and is, beyond critical reproach. The reverse was and is true. Although the DD concepts and insights now appear to be solidly rooted, and growing numbers of successfully treated dyslexic individuals have begun to spread over a wide geographic arc, this research effort, and this book, must be viewed as only a rough scientific first draft, subject to significant retrospective re-working and modification.
Use of Receding Horizon Optimal Control to Solve MaxEP-Based Biogeochemistry Problems

The maximum entropy production (MaxEP) principle has been applied to steady state systems, but biogeochemical problems of interest are typically transient in nature. To apply MaxEP to biogeochemical reaction networks, we propose that living systems maximum entropy production over appropriate time horizons based on strategic information stored in their genomes, which differentiates them from inanimate chemistry, such as fire, that maximizes entropy production instantaneously. We develop a receding horizon optimal control procedure that maximizes internal entropy production over different intervals of time. This procedure involves optimizing the stoichiometry of a reaction network to determine how biological structure is partitioned to reactions over an interval of time. The modeling work is compared to a methanotrophic microcosm experiment that is being conducted to examine how microbial systems integrate entropy production over time when subject to time varying energy input attained by periodically cycling feed-gas composition. The MaxEP-based model agrees well with experimental results, and model analysis shows that increasing the optimization time horizon increases internal entropy production.
A Measurement of the Average Number of Prompt Neutrons from Spontaneous Fission of Californium-252

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory large liquid-scintillator detector was used in a precise determination of vp, the number of neutrons emitted promptly, from spontaneous fission of 252Cf. Measurem...
Scene aligned pooling for complex video recognition

Real-world videos often contain dynamic backgrounds and evolving people activities, especially for those web videos generated by users in unconstrained scenarios. This paper proposes a new visual representation, namely scene aligned pooling, for the task of event recognition in complex videos. Based on the observation that a video clip is often composed with shots of different scenes, the key idea of scene aligned pooling is to decompose any video features into concurrent scene components, and to construct classification models adaptive to different scenes. The experiments on two large scale real-world datasets including the TRECVID Multimedia Event Detection 2011 and the Human Motion Recognition Databases (HMDB) show that our new visual representation can consistently improve various kinds of visual features such as different low-level color and texture features, or middle-level histogram of local descriptors such as SIFT, or space-time interest points, and high level semantic model features, by a significant margin. For example, we improve the-state-of-the-art accuracy on HMDB dataset by 20% in terms of accuracy.
Pollen has higher water content when dispersed in a tricellular state than in a bicellular state

ABSTRACT Pollen is generally dispersed in a sexually immature and somewhat dehydrated, metabolically quiescent state. Yet, in some species, pollen at anthesis is well-hydrated and metabolically active, and in 30 % of angiosperms pollen is dispersed after having formed its sperm cells. Pollen water content and sexual maturity may be correlated, either because both are subject to trade-offs between dispersal viability and post-pollination performance, or because the traits display developmental linkages. We inferred relative water content of sexually immature (“bicellular”) and sexually mature (“tricellular”) pollen of 30 species of angiosperms using a hydration index (HI) that ranges from zero to one, based on how near fresh pollen volume is to its minimal (dehydrated) or maximal (hydrated) volume. Tricellular pollen had 30 % higher HI than bicellular pollen (P < 0.005), after controlling for initial pollen size (larger pollen had higher HI; P < 0.05). A literature survey of 344 species indicated that the tricellular and hydrated states were strongly associated, although all four trait state combinations were present (P < 0.0001). Our results suggest that a common mechanism for the repeated origins of tricellular pollen has been via the loss of controlled pollen dehydration, which enables either accelerated or extended pollen development.
An Approximation Algorithm for Capacity Allocation Over a Single Flight Leg with Fare-Locking

In this paper, we study a revenue management model over a single flight leg, where the customers are allowed to lock an available fare. Each customer arrives into the system with an interest in pur...
Urban Political Ecology

It has been over 15 years since the term ‘urban political ecology’ (UPE) was coined. While still often not incorporated into larger discussion of political ecology, its growing visibility in the published literature suggests that it has gone beyond an emerging theoretical lens to one that has fully emerged. This report characterizes the current literature that explicitly utilizes the language of UPE, discusses its theoretical evolution that is now seeing a second wave, as well as catalogs some of the new arenas through which the sub-field has offered novel insights into the socionatural unevenness of cities. A central contribution of this survey is to illustrate the myriad articulations of how urban environmental and social change co-determine each other and how these metabolic processes offer insights into creative pathways toward more democratic urban environmental politics.
Genetic reduction of eEF2 kinase alleviates pathophysiology in Alzheimer’s disease model mice

Molecular signaling mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain unclear. Maintenance of memory and synaptic plasticity depend on de novo protein synthesis, dysregulation of which is implicated in AD. Recent studies showed AD-associated hyperphosphorylation of mRNA translation factor eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), which results in inhibition of protein synthesis. We tested to determine whether suppression of eEF2 phosphorylation could improve protein synthesis capacity and AD-associated cognitive and synaptic impairments. Genetic reduction of the eEF2 kinase (eEF2K) in 2 AD mouse models suppressed AD-associated eEF2 hyperphosphorylation and improved memory deficits and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) impairments without altering brain amyloid β (Aβ) pathology. Furthermore, eEF2K reduction alleviated AD-associated defects in dendritic spine morphology, postsynaptic density formation, de novo protein synthesis, and dendritic polyribosome assembly. Our results link eEF2K/eEF2 signaling dysregulation to AD pathophysiology and therefore offer a feasible therapeutic target.
An Engineered Cas-Transposon System for Programmable and Precise DNA Transpositions

Efficient targeted insertion of heterologous DNA into a genome remains a challenge in genome engineering. Recombinases that can introduce kilobase-sized DNA constructs require pre-existing recombination sites to be present in the genome and are difficult to reprogram to other loci. Genome insertion using current CRISPR-Cas methods relies on host DNA repair machinery, which is generally inefficient. Here, we describe a Cas-Transposon (CasTn) system for genomic insertions that uses a transposase fused to a catalytically-dead dCas9 nuclease to mediate programmable, site-specific transposition. CasTn combines the power of the Himar1 transposase, which inserts multi-kb DNA transposons into TA dinucleotides by a cut-and-paste mechanism, and the targeting capability of Cas9, which uses guide-RNAs to bind to specific DNA sequences. Using in vitro assays, we demonstrated that Himar-dCas9 proteins increased the frequency of transposon insertions at a single targeted TA dinucleotide by >300-fold compared to an untargeted transposase, and that site-specific transposition is dependent on target choice while robust to log-fold variations in protein and DNA concentrations. We then showed that Himar-dCas9 mediates site-specific transposition into a target plasmid in E. coli. This work provides CasTn as a new method for host-independent, programmable, targeted DNA insertions to expand the genomic engineering toolbox.
Current Trends in Pediatric Spine Deformity Surgery: Multimodal Pain Management and Rapid Recovery.

Study Design:Narrative review.Objectives:The purpose of this article is to perform a review of the literature assessing the efficacy of opioid alternatives, multimodal pain regimens, and rapid reco...
Gene-edited vero cells as rotavirus vaccine substrates.

Abstract Background Rotavirus (RV) is a leading cause of severe gastroenteritis globally and can cause substantial morbidity associated with gastroenteritis in children Methods A subset of Vero cell host genes was identified by siRNA that when knocked down increased RV replication and these anti-viral host genes were individually deleted using CRISPR-Cas9. Results Fully-sequenced gene knockout Vero cell substrates were assessed for increased RV replication and RV vaccine antigen expression compared to wild type Vero cells. The results showed that RV replication and antigen production were logs higher in Vero cells having an EMX2 gene deletion compared to other Vero cell substrates tested. Conclusions We used siRNAs to screen for host genes that negatively affected RV replication, then CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to delete select genes. The gene editing led to the development of enhanced RV vaccine substrates supporting a potential path forward for improving RV vaccine production.
From Bombay Talkies to Khote Productions: female star switching power in bollywood production culture

Devika Rani, first lady of Indian cinema, spearheaded a studio and co-produced global films. Her contemporary Durga Khote was the first female star to produce ad films and venture into television p...
Submembrane Events In Triggerable Cells Studied by Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy.

We have studied the dynamics of certain key processes near the plasma membrane inside two types of chemically-triggerable living cells using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). In TIRFM, a laser beam is incident upon the cell/glass-substrate interface from the glass side at an angle greater than the critical angle for total internal reflection. This creates an exponentially decaying evanescent field in the cell medium (with a characteristic depth of > 100 nm) capable of exciting fluorescence selectively from the membrane-proximal regions at cell/substrate contacts. Various ways of setting up the optics for such a system are discussed, involving the use of either prisms or very high aperture objectives.In one application of TIRFM, the motion of adrenalin-containing secretory granules in the immediate submembrane region of chromaffin cells is examined before and after chemical stimulation that causes the granules to release their contents to the cell exterior.
The Trump Card: Tarnishing Planning, Democracy, and the Environment

One of the greatest strengths of the National Environmental Policy Act has been its requirement that federal agencies opening up to the public decisionmaking processes concerning proposed actions that may adversely affect the environment. By mandating not only information collection and analysis but also opportunities for public input and government coordination, NEPA both depends on and cultivates democracy and sound government. For fifty years, NEPA has increased the production and consideration of information on the environmental impacts of government action, while also fostering public participation and government accountability on actions being contemplated by federal agencies. NEPA’s contributions to informed and democratic governance, however, are now at risk. In early 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued proposed regulations that would overhaul, and fundamentally enfeeble, NEPA and its existing regulations. The proposed revisions would upend decades of NEPA law, precedent, and practice. This Essay argues that CEQ’s proposal, and the conspicuous lack of evidence supporting it, are antithetical to NEPA’s core goals for federal decisionmaking — the considered generation by government of key information; public engagement in government decisions; and the protection and conservation of scarce natural resources. Among other things, the proposal would remove longstanding judicial checks on executive power, despite the absence of any authority to do so. If successful, these and other changes contemplated by CEQ would radically undercut NEPA’s innovative and successful contributions to democratic governance.
On Triggering and Being Triggered: Civil Society and Building Brave Spaces in Medical Education

How educators should respond to student reports of intense emotional reactions to curricular content—i.e., being triggered—invites intense debate. There are claims of insensitivity on one side and ...
Effects of the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist PT150 on stress-induced fentanyl seeking in male and female rats

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly comorbid with stress-related disorders, and stress can serve as a trigger for reinstatement of drug seeking. Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonists such as mifepristone (RU-486) may be effective against stress-induced drug seeking. In the current study, PT150 (formerly ORG-34517), a more selective GR antagonist, was tested using two models of stress-induced drug seeking, namely footshock and yohimbine. Adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer fentanyl (2.5 μg/kg/infusion, i.v.) in a model of escalation. Rats then received 7 days of abstinence, followed by extinction; PT150 (0, 50 or 100 mg/kg in Nutella®; p.o.) treatment started on the first day of extinction training and continued daily until the end of the study. Following 14 days of extinction, rats were tested for reinstatement following footshock and yohimbine (0, 1, or 2 mg/kg; i.p.), tested in counterbalanced order; PT150 or placebo treatment occurred prior to each extinction and reinstatement session. Prior to initiation of PT150 treatment, females self-administered greater levels of fentanyl during 1-h sessions compared to males; however, when switched to 6-h sessions, males and females self-administered similar levels of fentanyl and showed a similar escalation of intake over time. PT150 had no effect on extinction of self-administration. While both footshock and yohimbine reinstated fentanyl seeking, only footshock-induced reinstatement was decreased by PT150 (50 and 100 mg/kg). The effect of PT150 on footshock-induced reinstatement was driven primarily by males. The glucocorticoid antagonist PT150 reduces shock-induced fentanyl seeking, suggesting it may be effective against stress-induced relapse, although the sex difference in response may need further exploration.
Distributed Cross-Community Collaboration for the Cloud-Based Energy Management Service

Customers' participation is a critical factor for integrating the distributed energy resources via demand response and demand-side management programs, especially when customers become prosumers. Incentives need to be delivered by the energy management service to attract prosumers to operate their distributed energy resources and electricity loads grid-friendly actively. The cloud-based energy management service enables virtual trading for customers within the same community to minimize cost and smooth the fluctuation. With the potential fast-growing number of service providers and customers, the needs exist for efficiently collaborating across multiple service providers and customers. This paper proposes the distributed cross-community collaboration (XCC) for the cloud-based energy management service to enable collaboration across multiple communities and service providers. The XCC can efficiently handle large-scale variables and data with various allocated computing resources and is formulated as an alternating direction method of multipliers optimization problem. This paper also introduces a cross-community adjustment to avoid the overwhelmed exchanged data and computations among multiple communities under uncertainty. Performances are evaluated in experiments with the discussions.
Algorithms for Social Recommendation

Recommender systems aim to filter information for the user, usually based on personalization techniques. As social media becomes more popular, the need for recommender systems to help each user reach the most attractive and relevant information becomes acute. Social recommender systems provide just that: filtering social content, activities, tags, people, and communities, and suggesting them for the user. The social web offers many new forms of data and metadata for social recommendation algorithms to take advantage of. In this chapter, we will review different social recommendation algorithms and their way to exploit different types of social data and metadata to enhance their effectiveness.
Test of a high efficiency relativistic magnetron with diffraction output (MDO) and spherical cathode endcap

A previous computational study of a relativistic magnetron with diffractive output at UNM using MAGIC [1] indicated an electronic efficiency of 70% [2]. The original anode design in this study was tested in experiment. Some subtle changes in the source design were necessary, such as introduction of a Helmholtz-like magnetic coil pair and use of a polished stainless steel endcap on the downstream end of the transparent cathode. The purpose of these changes was to protect the dielectric output window from electron bombardment, an approach that is separate from the work of others to do the same with modified magnetic fields [3]. An ethanol calorimeter and L- and S-band waveguide detectors placed in the near-field were used to obtain RF pulse shape, frequency, and to calculate peak power. A self-integrating Rogowski coil and D-dot probe, which measured total current and voltage respectively, were then used to calculate a total efficiency of 40.4% for the π-mode. This lower efficiency is suggestive of a specific mechanism by which the spherical endcap has poor efficacy. Finally, images of radiated field pattern on a neon-bulb grid and of air breakdown outside of the 21 cm diameter output window were captured.
Childhood Autism and Proactive Family Coping: Intergenerational Perspectives

This article considers the value of intergenerational and specifically, grandparental support, in the management of adaptive tasks posed by raising a young child with autism. The tasks addressed range from accessing early intervention to enhancing family social functioning. We note unique social, financial, and health-related stressors faced by families of children with autism. We outline an innovative, stress theory-based framework, the Autism Proactive Intergenerational Adaptation (APIA) Model, which delineates the role of grandparents in contributing to family adaptation to the stresses of raising a child with autism. We focus on proactive family coping strategies in building resilience and ameliorating the adverse impact of stressors on quality of life (QOL) for individual family members and for the family unit. We discuss barriers and facilitators of intergenerational alliances involving grandparental participation and support.
US Registered Dietitian Nutritionists' Knowledge and Attitudes of Intuitive Eating and Use of Various Weight Management Practices.

Abstract Background Researchers have been advocating for a new weight-inclusive paradigm that focuses on health rather than weight. One important component of this model is intuitive eating. Although registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) are the nation's food and nutrition experts, RDNs' knowledge of and attitudes toward intuitive eating and use of traditional or restrictive strategies are unknown. Objective The purpose of this study was to characterize RDNs' knowledge of and attitudes toward an intuitive eating lifestyle and describe use of traditional weight management and nonrestrictive lifestyle practices with clients. Design This was a cross-sectional study. Participants A validated survey was distributed using online survey software to 88,834 RDNs. Results There were 18,622 respondents who completed the survey (25%). The majority of RDNs were knowledgeable about intuitive eating, answering 71% of items correctly. The majority of RDNs had a positive view on each attitude item. RDNs who work in weight management reported using nonrestrictive/intuitive eating practices more than traditional/restrictive practices. RDNs who were women ( P P P P P P Conclusions This study provides evidence that RDNs are using an intuitive eating approach more often than traditional weight management practices.
Scheduling sporadic tasks with shared resources in hard-real-time systems

The problem of scheduling a set of sporadic tasks that share a set of serially reusable, single unit software resources on a single processor is considered. The correctness conditions are that: each invocation of each task completes execution at or before a well-defined deadline; and a resource is never accessed by more than one task simultaneously. An optimal online algorithm for scheduling a set of sporadic tasks is presented. The algorithm results from the integration of a synchronization scheme for access to shared resources with the earliest deadline first algorithm. A set of relations on task parameters that are necessary and sufficient for a set of tasks to be schedulable is also derived. The proposed model for the analysis of processor scheduling policies is novel in that it incorporates minimum as well as maximum processing time requirements of tasks. The scheduling algorithm and the sporadic tasking model have been incorporated into an operating system kernel and used to implement several real-time systems. >
Restoring the Boundary: Tort Law and the Right to Contract

Today courts regularly resolve disputes by applying tort principles when they should apply the law of contracts. When parties have an opportunity to negotiate the terms of their relationship, the resultant contracts ought to be enforced. Tort law is an acceptable substitute only if parties have no opportunity to bargain. Over the years the boundary between tort and contract has shifted sharply toward tort. For example, physicians serving rural areas are often not allowed to contract with patients for a lower price in return for diminished care. And courts have allowed consumers who buy cars without air bags to recover from manufacturers for injuries that only air bags would have prevented. Sometimes courts even ignore compulsory arbitration provisions that waive the usual judicial procedures for resolving disputes. Even worse, rules have sprung up that prohibit ordinary commercial contracts. A person forbidden to sell certain products--because a government agency has determined they are too dangerous--may also be forbidden to sell his own labor--because the state has determined that the wages he would accept are too low. Contracts once freely negotiated, and subject to private suit in the event of fraud or failure to perform, are increasingly replaced by regulation. Unhappily, once government has advanced a plausible rationale for prohibiting consensual behavior in one area, its tentacles inevitably extend to other areas as well. Today's torts "crisis" does not exist because corporations are oppressing individuals, or because we need federal legislation to replace state tort rules. The crisis exists because our rights have been given increasingly less respect by government. The crisis exists because we have not allowed tort to be tort, and contract to be contract. We need to restore the boundary between contract and tort.
Digraphs and fault trees: a tale of two combinatorial modeling methods

The authors illustrate the similarities and differences of digraph and AND-OR fault tree models and discuss their use together in light of the strengths of each. A theorem is presented with proof that establishes the combinatorial modeling equivalence of digraphs and AND-OR fault trees. An integrated digraph/AND-OR fault tree modeling tool currently under development is described. >
The clock, test and maintenance control chip of the IBM ES/9221

Abstract The design of the Clock, Test and Maintenance (CTM) control chip for an IBM ES/9221 microprocessor is presented in this paper. This CTM chip provides all functions to run built-in random pattern selftest and a Boundary Scan Chip Interconnection test besides supporting the normal mode of functional operation. In addition it allows to initialize and monitor all system latches during functional and test mode. All chips of the system are accessed from the CTM chip via a Test Access Bus (TAB).
β‐CARBOLINE ALKALOIDS: MECHANISMS OF PHOTOTOXICITY TO BACTERIA AND INSECTS

Abstract— Phototoxicity of five naturally occurring (3-carboline alkaloids was assayed against a series of Escherichia coli strains and against the insect Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Rank order efficacy of the compounds was comparable in both organisms. Although the bacterial assay demonstrated oxygen dependence, the degree of phototoxicity did not correlate with the relative efficiency of in vitro singlet oxygen or hydrogen peroxide photoproduction by the alkaloids. A better correlation was observed between chromatographic migration distances (lipophilicity) and phototoxicity. Therefore, hydrophobic mechanisms in which the alkaloids diffuse with varying efficiencies into cells or into the vicinity of target molecules may be important modes of phototoxicity for these compounds.
Disparity in drug-eluting stent utilization by insurance type.

Background Because of the expense of drug-eluting stents (DES) and associated adjuvant therapy, nonclinical, socioeconomic factors may be associated with DES use in clinical practice. Methods Data on 112,588 patients from the National Cardiovascular Data CathPCI Registry (NCDR) between 2004 and 2005 with “on-label” indications for DES were analyzed. Insurance status was categorized as No Insurance, Governmental, and Private Insurance. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between insurance status and DES use, after adjusting for patient and procedural characteristics. Results Drug-eluting stent use was >96% during the study period, with utilization significantly associated with insurance status. Compared with patients with Private Insurance, patients with No Insurance (odds ratio 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.37-0.53) and Government Insurance (odds ratio 0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.67-0.80) were significantly less likely to receive a DES than a bare metal stent. Repeat analysis of patients Conclusions Despite the high penetration of DES, significant associations between insurance status and DES utilization were identified. This indicates that disparities in health care based on socioeconomic factors extend to DES utilization and highlights the need to address such disparities as novel therapies emerge.
Ultrafiltration/Reverse Osmosis Concentration of Lobster Extract

A membrane concentration system consisting of tubular polysulphone ultrafiltration (UF) and polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) was evaluated for concentrating key water soluble flavor compounds from lobster extracts. Major flavor-giving compounds in the extract were glutamic acid, glycine, arginine, uridine 5′-monophosphate (UMP), succninic acid and glucose. Factors affecting performance of the UF/RO systems, such as flow rate, feed solid level, temperature and pressure, on permeate flux and solids rejection were measured. The optimum UF conditions were 1.5% feed solid level, 15 L/min feed flow rate, 50°C feed temperature and 1 MPa log mean transmembrane pressure. The RO system retained all dissolved flavor components and its ideal operating conditions were 40°C, 2.8 MPa log mean transmembrane pressure and a flow rate of 15 L/min.
The Rotary Mechanism of the ATP Synthase

The F0F1 ATP synthase is a large complex of at least 22 subunits, more than half of which are in the membranous F0 sector. This nearly ubiquitous transporter is responsible for the majority of ATP synthesis in oxidative and photo-phosphorylation, and its overall structure and mechanism have remained conserved throughout evolution. Most examples utilize the proton motive force to drive ATP synthesis except for a few bacteria, which use a sodium motive force. A remarkable feature of the complex is the rotary movement of an assembly of subunits that plays essential roles in both transport and catalytic mechanisms. This review addresses the role of rotation in catalysis of ATP synthesis/hydrolysis and the transport of protons or sodium.
Graphene cones: Classification by fictitious flux and electronic properties

Multiple five- and seven-membered rings in graphene surfaces have long-range effects which are very sensitive to their relative placement. The sensitivity is described by an "n-m" combination rule derived here. This rule classifies graphene cones by the localized fictitious gauge flux through their apices, leading to two classes of graphene cones with two apical pentagons. The local density of states vanishes at the Fermi energy in one class, but in the other, it is nonzero and decreases inversely with distance from the apex. Fictitious apical flux also affects the response of electrons to a magnetic field, leading to position dependent local degeneracy of Landau levels as well as anomalous Landau levels which are semiclassically linked to cyclotron orbits which encircle the apex multiple times before closing. We derive these results in a continuum theory, but confront them with numerical tight-binding computations, finding good agreement. We also discuss an intrinsic Aharonov-Bohm effect which persists in the ray-optics limit, and possibilities for producing different inhomogeneous effective fields by exploiting the conical shape.
The symptom experience of alopecia

Objectives: To examine the physiology and pathophysiology of loss of hair, the impact of alopecia on the patient, nursing and self-care interventions, and available resources. Data sources: Published articles pertaining to alopecia and personal experiences of coping with alopecia. Conclusions: Hair loss often is the most traumatic side effect for cancer patients. It causes depression, loss of self-confidence, and humiliation in men and women of all ages. Too few studies exist to make a definitive recommendation for scalp hypothermia and the use of scalp tourniquets. The major controversy and issue to consider with these hair-preservation techniques is scalp metastases. Further studies are needed to identify the impact of alopecia on patient self-image and quality of life. Implications for nursing practice: Nursing interventions should be directed toward helping the patient and family adapt to and cope with alopecia. Patient education, identification of available resources, and supportive listening are therapeutic interventions.
Tuning the photophysical properties of an ionic conjugated polymer through interactions with conventional polyelectrolytes

Ionic conjugated polymers (ICPs), polyions with electronically conjugated backbones, have been the subject of intensive studies recently. As newly emerging polymer materials, ICPs exhibit great potential for a variety of applications ranging from separations to biosensors. One of the most fascinating properties of ICPs is that their intrinsic optical properties can be tuned by a molecular assemblage process rather than by cumbersome synthetic changes to the chemical structures of the repeat unit. For example, in previous studies, we have found that the fluorescence quantum efficiency (FQE) of an ICP can be enhanced through its interactions with small amounts of certain detergents. Using a combination of steady-state and ultrafast spectroscopy we have established that the fluorescence enhancement results from the formation of a complex [polymer{sup (-)}/detergent{sup (+)}], which induces ordered conformation and, therefore, changes the optical properties of an ICP. Because many desirable properties of ICPs rely on their intense fluorescence and highly delocalized electronic properties, we report here another avenue for tuning the properties of ICPs through the interactions of ICPs with conventional polyelectrolytes.
New methods for fabricating patterned lithium niobate for photonic applications

Abstract The inherently large chemical stability of crystalline LiNbO3 has effectively precluded the use of standard photolithographic patterning techniques. We present a two-stage growth method for fabricating patterned crystalline LiNbO3 structures for photonic applications. The method uses atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to produce an amorphous LiNbO3 film. The film can be patterned using conventional photolithography and rapidly etched (>5 μm/min) with wet or dry chemical techniques. Alternatively, a standard lift-off process, using SiO2 as a masking material, can be used to produce a desired pattern. When grown on LiNbO3 substrates, a post-growth anneal converts the amorphous film to single-crystal LiNbO3.