cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Particle Size Enlargement

Size enlargement concerns those processes that bring together fine powder particles into larger masses to improve the properties of the powders. Many diverse industries benefit from size enlargement processes. Examples discussed herein include fertilizer granulation, iron ore pelletization, tablet feeds for pharmaceuticals, instant food products, and the processing of mineral and chemical products. This article primarily considers those processes in which the creation of coarse granular material from fines is the objective. The characteristics of individual agglomerates are important only in their effect on the properties of the bulk granular product. Following an initial discussion of particle-bonding mechanisms and the theory and measurement of agglomerate strength, size enlargement processes and equipment, including principal design parameters, are described. These processes are considered on the basis of the principal mechanism used to bring the particles together into agglomerates. The categories used are agglomeration by tumbling and other agitation methods, pressure compaction and extrusion methods, heat reaction, fusion, and drying methods, and agglomeration from liquid suspensions by competitive wetting. Keywords: agglomeration; granulation; pelletizing; powder processing; particle technology
Simple Analytical Method for Determining Parameters of Discharging Batteries

This paper derives simple and explicit formulas for computing the parameters of Thevenin's equivalent circuit model for a discharging battery. The general Thevenin's equivalent circuit model has n pairs of parallel resistors and capacitors ( nth-order model). The main idea behind the new method is to transform the problem of solving a system of high-order polynomial equations into one of solving several linear equations and a single-variable nth-order polynomial equation, via some change of variables. The computation can be implemented with a simple MATLAB code less than half-page long. Experimental and computational results are obtained for three types of batteries: Li-polymer, lead-acid, and nickel metal hydride. For all the tested batteries, the first-order models are not able to generate voltage responses that closely match the measured responses, while second-order models can generate well-matched responses. For some of the batteries, a third-order model can do a better job matching the voltage responses.
Decreased Argatroban Clearance Unaffected by Hemodialysis in Anasarca

OBJECTIVE:To report the case of a patient with acute renal failure and anasarca undergoing hemodialysis who demonstrated a prolonged effect of argatroban despite having no hepatic dysfunction.CASE SUMMARY:A 54-year-old white woman with a past medical history of St. Jude's prosthetic mitral valve placement was admitted for anasarca secondary to acute renal failure of unknown origin. In order to prevent valve thrombosis and stroke, argatroban was initiated. Despite having no hepatic dysfunction, the patient demonstrated an elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) for a prolonged period of time, requiring a significant dose reduction. This suggested reduced clearance of argatroban. Furthermore, this prolonged effect persisted despite hemodialysis.DISCUSSION:Patients with severe renal dysfunction eliminate argatroban at a rate similar to that in healthy volunteers, while those with hepatic disease have a marked decrease in argatroban elimination. Our patient apparently had a reduction in argatrob...
Identification and characterization of microRNAs from the bovine adipose tissue and mammary gland.

We report the identification of bovine miRNAs by cloning small RNAs from adipose tissue and the mammary gland. Fifty-nine distinct miRNAs were identified, five of them were not homologous to known mammalian miRNAs, and many of them had 3′ and/or 5′ end variants. Ribonuclease protection assays indicated that miR-23a and miR-24, whose genes are closely located on the same chromosome, were co-expressed in different tissues. The assays also suggested a role for several miRNAs in the mammary gland and a role for miR-133, a previously known skeletal and cardiac muscle-specific miRNA, in the rumen, an organ unique to the ruminant.
High Performance Silicone Gel as IC Device Chip Protection

Recent advances in IC device encapsulants and polymeric materials have made high reliability VLSI plastic packaging a reality. High performance silicone gel possesses excellent electrical and physical properties for IC protection. With their intrinsic low modulus and soft gel-like nature, silicone gels have become very effective encapsulants for the delicate larger chip size and wire-bonded VLSI chips. Recent studies indicate that adequate IC chip surface protection with high performance silicone gels in plastic packaging could possibly replace conventional ceramic: hermetic packaging. This paper will review some potential IC encapsulants. Special focus will be placed on the high performance silicone gel, its chemistry, and its application as a VLSI device encapsulant.
Sizing Up Peers: Adolescent Girls’ Weight Control and Social Comparison in the School Context

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and multi-level modeling, we examine the role of social comparison with schoolmates in adolescent girls' weight control. Specifically, we focus on how girls' own weight control is influenced by the body sizes and weight-control behaviors of their schoolmates. Our findings suggest that comparisons with similar others (in this case, girls of a similar body size) appear to have the strongest association with individual girls' reports of trying to lose weight. For example, the odds that an overweight girl is engaged in weight control increase substantially when many overweight girls in her school are also trying to lose weight. This study highlights how schools play an important role in shaping girls' decisions to practice weight control and demonstrates how social comparison theory improves our understanding of how health behaviors are linked to social contexts.
Modeling hydraulic fractures in finite difference simulators: Application to tight gas sands in Montana

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing allows numerous, otherwise unproductive, low permeability gas formations to be produced. The interactions between the fractures and the heterogeneous reservoir rock, however, are quite complex, and often multiple fractures are created in a single well. These factors make it difficult to model production from hydraulically-fractured systems. For example, current analytical techniques assume a single rectangular shaped fracture in a single phase homogeneous reservoir. The current work demonstrates how to capture more complexity and model these systems with a finite difference simulator. It is proposed to treat the hydraulic fracture as a discrete object that is neither gridded nor included in the skin term of a traditional well model. It is modeled as an object that interacts both with the well and the gridded reservoir. From the commercial simulator standpoint, the fractures are modeled as “wells,” so no additional code or add-ons to the simulator are required. A “well” is simply connected nodes that are in pressure communication and interact with respective gridblocks. This is the same as the fracture being modeled. Nothing in the well model forces it to connect to the surface. The first part of this paper verifies that designating fractures with wells provides solutions that are equivalent to analytical models for simple cases. Once the technique was verified, it is used to model four hydraulically-fractured wells from a low permeability gas reservoir in Montana. The simulation models are matched to available production data by changing fracture lengths. Then the models are used to predict future response from the wells. The advantages of this technique are: (1) multiple fractures can be modeled in a single well and (2) heterogeneities within the fracture and reservoir can be accounted for. These advantages will lead to more realistic models and more accurate predictions; however, the most useful application of this technique may come in the fracture design stages. With this tool, various fracture geometries and scenarios can be tested quickly in the simulator, and the most economic scenarios selected and implemented. This will cause better fracture placement, and ultimately greater production.
Restricting Legislative Power to Tax in the United States

The Government’s authority to impose taxes is one of its most pervasive and fundamental powers. In the United States, this power is granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution with few explicit restrictions. Moreover, the courts in the United States almost invariably affirm the Government’s power to tax in the face of constitutional challenges.3 This “presumption of constitutionality” afforded most tax legislation is a long-standing and well-accepted proposition. As a result, constitutional law has played a relatively minor role in the development of tax laws in the United States. While many questions arise from the intersection between constitutional law and federal and state taxing power, most are not answered by the litigated cases. Our goal is not to raise possible constitutional claims, but instead to provide an overview of how courts in the United States have applied constitutional limitations to federal and state taxing power so that others may make relevant comparisons with tax systems in other countries. Space limitations require selective treatment of the subject rather than a comprehensive analysis..
Prevention of postoperative recurrence with azathioprine or infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease: an open-label pilot study.

Abstract Background and aims Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) often require surgery over their clinical course. However, endoscopic and clinical recurrence of disease appear respectively in up to 80% and 30% of patients after one year. Thus, a prophylactic treatment is needed to reduce the possibility of recurrence. Both azathioprine and infliximab have been demonstrated to be effective, but head to head studies have not been performed so far. Aim of this open-label prospective study was to analyse endoscopic, histological and clinical recurrence after one year of treatment with azathioprine or infliximab as postoperative therapies in CD patients with "high risk" of recurrence. Methods Consecutive CD patients who underwent curative ileocolonic resection were randomized (1:1) to receive infliximab (standard induction and maintenance schedule) or azathioprine (2.5mg/kg/day) for 1 year. Co-primary endpoints were endoscopic, histological and clinical recurrence after 12 months of therapy. Results Twenty-two consecutive CD patients (15 male; median age 32years, IQR 22-38) were enrolled after curative ileocolonic resection. Eleven patients were treated with infliximab and 11 received azathioprine. Among patients treated with azathioprine, 4/10 (40%) had endoscopic recurrence compared to 1/11 (9%) in the infliximab group (p=0.14). Eight out of 10 (80%) among those who received azathioprine had severe histological activity, whereas 2/11 (18%) in the infliximab group presented histological recurrence (p=0.008). No significant clinical differences were found between the two groups. Conclusions Infliximab was more effective than azathioprine in reducing histological, but not endoscopic and clinical recurrence after curative ileocolonic resection in "high risk" CD patients.
Cycle time learning curve in semiconductor foundry industry

Faster cycle time is considered to be one of the key factors for the competitive semiconductor foundry industry. During the past decades, many studies had tried to provide rules and models to guide activities for reduction of cycle time. [Yu Hsin Lin et al.] [Wallace J. Hopp et al.] Most of studies aimed on Issue of WIP/tool/dispatch and line balance to reach a cycle time target. But, what's a good cycle time target? How to set a good cycle time target? Learning curve provide us a good way to answer these questions and show us how powerful it is. In this paper, we establish cycle time road map by applying learning curve approach [Benjamin W. Niebel] to find an empirical rule. Based on this rule, we can define cycle time goal, road map, and long-term activities to make the most profits for the company. We collected historic data and used regression function to find the learning rate. Using the rate we set a tough but reasonable target to drive C/T reduction activities to have a most competitive cycle time
Tree-Based Models for Predicting Mortality in Gram-Negative Bacteremia: Avoid Putting the CART before the Horse

Increasingly, infectious disease studies employ tree-based approaches, e.g., classification and regression tree modeling, to identify clinical thresholds. We present tree-based-model-derived thresholds along with their measures of uncertainty. We explored individual and pooled clinical cohorts of bacteremic patients to identify modified acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (II) (m-APACHE-II) score mortality thresholds using a tree-based approach. Predictive performance measures for each candidate threshold were calculated. Candidate thresholds were examined according to binary logistic regression probabilities of the primary outcome, correct classification predictive matrices, and receiver operating characteristic curves. Three individual cohorts comprising a total of 235 patients were studied. Within the pooled cohort, the mean (± standard deviation) m-APACHE-II score was 13.6 ± 5.3, with an in-hospital mortality of 16.6%. The probability of death was greater at higher m-APACHE II scores in only one of three cohorts (odds ratio for cohort 1 [OR1] = 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.99 to 1.34; OR2 = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.94 to 1.16; OR3 = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.38) and was greater at higher scores within the pooled cohort (OR4 = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.19). In contrast, tree-based models overcame power constraints and identified m-APACHE-II thresholds for mortality in two of three cohorts (P = 0.02, 0.1, and 0.008) and the pooled cohort (P = 0.001). Predictive performance at each threshold was highly variable among cohorts. The selection of any one predictive threshold value resulted in fixed sensitivity and specificity. Tree-based models increased power and identified threshold values from continuous predictor variables; however, sample size and data distributions influenced the identified thresholds. The provision of predictive matrices or graphical displays of predicted probabilities within infectious disease studies can improve the interpretation of tree-based model-derived thresholds.
THUNDERSTORM-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS DETERMINED FROM AIRCRAFT AND RADAR OBSERVATIONS

Abstract Aircraft measurements at low- and mid-cloud levels near two isolated and persistent Great Plains thunderstorms concurrently scanned by radar are analyzed to determine the kinematic properties of the near-cloud air flow, the moisture budget, and the dynamical interactions between the cloud and its surroundings. Time variation in velocity divergence, relative vorticity, and moisture flux convergence in the subcloud layer relate well to changes in storm development and translation. Aircraft winds and radar chaff trajectories substantiate the premise in some models that mature thunderstorms, moving more slowly than ambient winds, divert and distort mid-tropospheric air motion in a manner similar to solid obstacles in relative streaming flow. Observed ingestion of mid-tropospheric air motion tracers demonstrates that, at the same time, internal circulations aloft are not entirely insulated from the environment. A graphical synthesis of three-dimensional air flow within and around a typical Great Plain...
State Conformity with Provisions of the 1997 Uniform Accountancy Act: Theory and Evidence

In this study we use theories of professional regulation to examine state conformity with model provisions of the 1997 Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA). We posit that three of the 1997 UAA provisions restricted the licensing of certified public accountants (CPAs) because they increased educational requirements and that three provisions were economic‐service‐related because they enhanced interstate and international reciprocity. We contrast public interest, quality‐demand, and capture theories to develop contemporaneous empirical measures to explain the degree to which a state's laws conformed to each set of provisions. We found that our three capture‐theory variables—(1) the ratio of the number of CPAs to the number noncertified public accountants (NPA) in a given state, (2) the percentage of CPAs who belong to a state's Society of CPAs, and (3) the percent of a state's population over 25 years of age without a college education—were directly related to a state's conformity with restrictive provisions of the...
A bedside test for sulfapyridine

Abstract A simplified method for determining sulfapyridine, depending upon the ether extraction of sulfapyridine from the blood, is described. The test may be performed in ten minutes and requires simple glassware available in any hospital or office laboratory.
Evolution of Conservation Tillage Systems for Processing Tomato in California’s Central Valley

Traditional processing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) production in California’s Central Valley relies heavily on tillage to produce high yields. However, recent research and farm innovation have produced a variety of conservation tillage (CT) management alternatives that cut costs, reduce soil disturbance, and produce fewer emissions. A 12-year study in Five Points, CA, demonstrated that CT methods reduced tractor passes by 40%, lowered tillage costs by $80 per acre in 2011 dollars, and achieved comparable yields as standard tillage (ST) methods. As comparable yield performance and net profitability are further demonstrated, an array of CT systems will become increasingly attractive to producers and more common in Central Valley tomato growing areas.
Dependent type practice (invited talk)

Dependent type theory is a powerful and expressive language for writing mathematical expressions and proofs, but careful design, engineering, and hard work are needed to put the theory into practice. In this talk, I will discuss some of the ideas and techniques that have been used in the design of the Lean theorem prover, a new proof system based on dependent type theory that aims to make the theorem proving process more natural, convenient, and efficient.
A tale of Congress, continuing medical education, and the history of medicine

Well-intentioned attempts by the Senate Finance Committee to improve the content and quality of continuing medical education (CME) offerings had the unanticipated consequence of decimating academically oriented history of medicine conferences. New guidelines intended to keep CME courses free of commercial bias from the pharmaceutical industry were worded in a fashion that caused CME officials at academic institutions to be reluctant to offer CME credit for history of medicine gatherings. At the 2013 annual conference of the American Association for the History of Medicine, we offered a novel solution for determining CME credit in line with current guidelines. We asked attendees to provide narrative critiques for each presentation for which they desired CME credit. In this essay, we evaluate the efficacy of this approach.
A Hierarchical Architecture for the Adaptive Mode Transition Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In this paper, a hierarchical/intelligent control architecture for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed. The architecture consists of three levels: the highest level is occupied by mission planning routines. At this level, information about the way points the vehicle must follow is available and logic-based routines decide upon mission tasks while maintaining physical constraints and generate the task queue. The mid-level controller coordinates the task execution while a trajectory generation component receives the task information from the high-level module and provides set points for low- level stabilizing controllers whose function is to maintain the vehicle in a stable state and to follow accurately the commanded trajectory. An adaptive mode transitioning control algorithm resides also at the lowest level of the hierarchy consisting of two components: a mode transitioning controller and the accompanying adaptation mechanism. The adaptation routine may be turned on only when needed. The transitioning algorithm operates in real-time while adapting on-line to disturbances and other external inputs. This intelligent/hierarchical architecture is being implemented using a novel software infrastructure called Open Control Platform, which facilitates interoperability, plug -and-play and other functionalities. Simulation results illustrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme. An actual flight demonstration is planned for the near future as part of a DARPA sponsored research program.
Design and Application of Pathological Information System

Objective To strengthen the control of pathological examination,improve the the quality of pathological diagnosis,implement information sharing in entire hospital.Methods Analyzed the whole processes of pathological examination,and designed the corresponding modules in software.Results A database,two programs with 11 modules and one interface program were completed.The key nodes of pathological diagnosis,such as the applies of examination,the management for specimens,the content of reports were powerful controled throught softwares.The disadvantage factors affecting pathological diagnosis had been removed.By the interface program with HIS,PACS,the information sharing in entire hospital was achieved.Conclusion The pathology information system was conve-nient by enhancing the control of pathological examination processes,improving the quality of pathological diagnosis,favoring inquiries of information and improving work efficiency.The system was designed for the actual situation in our hospital,also had the certain reference function to other hospital pathology information system construction.
Comparing 2D and 3D Digital Image Correlation for an Inflation Test

3D digital image correlation (DIC) is widely used in biomechanics to measure the deformation of 3D structures. However, 3D-DIC implementation can be challenging under specific conditions, such as high magnification (i.e. low depth of focus) or environment with limited access for two-angled cameras. Here, we aimed to compare 2D-DIC and 3D-DIC for the same inflation test, to evaluate 2D-DIC as an alternative to 3D-DIC under those conditions. A two-camera stereovision system acquired top-down images of a membrane inflated vertically to 5.41 kPa (reference pressure), then to 7.87 kPa (deformed pressure), while a single camera system simultaneously recorded side images. 2D-DIC and 3D-DIC were used to calculate vertical (out of membrane plane) and horizontal (in membrane plane) displacements, and meridional strain. Under inflation, the variability in displacements and strains was larger than under static conditions for both DIC methods. 2D-DIC showed a smaller variability than 3D-DIC, especially in the vertical displacements, and the absolute difference between the averaged 3D-DIC and 2D-DIC data was in the range of the 3D-DIC variability. The meridional strain uncertainty was similar between both DIC methods. Those findings suggests that 2D-DIC might be an alternative to 3D-DIC for inflation under certain conditions.
Development of a quantitative PCR assay for measurement of trichechid herpesvirus 1 load in the Florida manatee ( Trichechus manatus latirostris).

Trichechid herpesvirus 1 (TrHV-1) is currently the only known herpesvirus in any sirenian. We hypothesized that stress may lead to recrudescence of TrHV-1 in manatees, thus making TrHV-1 a potentia...
Language Growth in English Monolingual and Spanish-English Bilingual Children from 2.5 to 5 Years

Objective To describe the trajectories of English and Spanish language growth in typically developing children from bilingual homes and compare those with the trajectories of English growth in children from monolingual homes, to assess effects of dual language exposure on language growth in typically developing children. Study design Expressive vocabularies were assessed at 6-month intervals from age 30 to 60 months, in English for monolinguals and English and Spanish for bilinguals. Use of English and Spanish in the home was assessed via parental report. Results Multilevel modeling, including parent education as a covariate, revealed that children from bilingual homes lagged 6 months to 1 year behind monolingual children in English vocabulary growth. The size of the lag was related to the relative amount of English use in the home, but the relation was not linear. Increments in English use conferred the greatest benefit most among homes with already high levels of English use. These homes also were likely to have 1 parent who was a native English speaker. Bilingual children showed stronger growth in English than in Spanish. Conclusions Bilingual children can lag 6 months to 1 year behind monolingual children in normal English language development. Such lags may not necessarily signify clinically relevant delay if parents report that children also have skills in the home language. Shorter lags are associated with 2 correlated factors: more English exposure and more exposure from native English speakers. Early exposure to Spanish in the home does not guarantee acquisition of Spanish.
Sleep disordered breathing in bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background There are limited data on the effect of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) on sleep disordered breathing (SDB). We hypothesized that both the severity of prematurity and BPD would increase the likelihood of SDB in early childhood. Our secondary aim was to evaluate the association of demographic factors on the development of SDB. Methods This is a retrospective study of patient factors and overnight polysomnogram (PSG) data of children enrolled in our BPD registry between 2008 and 2015. Association between PSG results and studied variables was assessed using multiple linear regression analysis. Results One-hundred-forty children underwent at least one sleep study on room air. The mean respiratory disturbance index (RDI) was elevated at 9.9 events/hr (SD: 10.1). The mean obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) was 6.5 (9.1) events/hr and the mean central event rate of 3.0 (3.7) events/hr. RDI had decreased by 22% or 1.5 events/hour (95%CI: 0.6, 1.9) with each year of age (P = 0.005). Subjects with more severe respiratory disease had 38% more central events (P = 0.02). Infants exposed to secondhand smoke had 2.4% lower (P = 0.04) oxygen saturation nadirs and a pattern for more desaturation events. Non-white subjects were found to have 33% higher OAHI (P = 0.05), while white subjects had a 61% higher rate of central events (P < 0.001). Conclusions RDI was elevated in a selected BPD population compared to norms for non-preterm children. BPD severity, smoke exposure, and race may augment the severity of SDB. RDI improved with age but was still elevated by age 4, suggesting that this population is at risk for the sequelae of SDB.
Opportunistic Infections in HIV Individuals and Enhanced Immunity by Glutathione

Abstract The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has dramatically increased since it was first reported in 1981 and now stands as one of the most prevalent disease in the world. The consequences of HIV infection lead to a compromised immune system and increase susceptibility to opportunistic infections such as the one caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This results in many complications that often become problematic during the course of treatment and finding supplements that can deal with both the viral and bacterial infection become scarce. Glutathione (GSH), a natural antioxidant, has been identified to have beneficial effects on individuals infected with HIV by alleviating excessive oxidative stress and enhancing the immunity. This is in part by the chemical properties of GSH as well as the direct effect it has on cells of the immune system. Overall, GSH’s beneficial effects should be considered as an added supplement to the current treatment for HIV/AIDS.
Towards a Data-Driven Approach to Injury Prevention in Construction

The research discussed in this paper is part of a project directed at increasing productivity in construction through mitigating the risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD). Postures and activities recognition through motion capturing techniques have shown promising potential for monitoring, assessing, and reducing such risks. Current motion sensing systems require a complex whole-body senor placement to capture and recognize construction activities, which limits the practicality and requires great computational effort. This challenge can be addressed through using a machine learning approach that recognizes specific activities from human motion data. The feasibility of reducing the computational effort through using fewer sensors rather than whole-body sensor placement was assessed through a case study. Five sensors were placed in targeted motion areas. The authors propose a novel automatic model configuration process to improve recognition performance under the selected sensor placement. It is based on designing optimal combination of data segmentation window size, feature sets, and classification algorithms for a specific set of injury-prone construction activities. The proposed approach achieved an average overall recognition accuracy of 0.81 and 0.74 for two sets of activities. The recognition model operation time is also reduced to less than 0.01 s under the proposed approach. In this initial case study, the model configuration process was developed iteratively based on the output from the test case. In subsequent efforts, the authors will develop a generic activity recognition model with predefined rules and criteria. This will further accelerate and automate the model configuration process.
Psychometric Properties of the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form in a Psychiatric Sample

The Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) is a well-established measure that assesses general well-being and three well-being components: emotional, social, and psychological. However, its psychometric properties have never been investigated in a psychiatric sample. We examined the psychometric properties of the MHC-SF, including factor structure, convergent validity, and sensitivity to change, in 768 patients attending a psychiatric partial hospital program. Patients completed the MHC-SF as well as self-report measures of depression, and motivation and pleasure at admission and discharge from the program. Results revealed that a Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) model better fit the data than competing models (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, ESEM, and Bifactor models). This model supported the existence of a general well-being factor, but provided limited evidence for the existence of emotional, social, or psychological well-being factors. The MHC-SF negatively correlated with a measure of depression and positively correlated with a measure of motivation and pleasure, suggesting good convergent validity. General well-being increased significantly from pre- to post-treatment. Results support the use of the MHC-SF to reliably measure general well-being in a psychiatric sample.
The D2Refine Platform for the Standardization of Clinical Research Study Data Dictionaries: Usability Study.

Background: D2Refine provides a Web-based environment to create clinical research study data dictionaries and enables standardization and harmonization of its variable definitions with controlled terminology resources. Objective: To assess the usability of the functions D2Refine offers, a usability study was designed and executed. Methods: We employed the TURF (task, user, representation, and function) Usability Framework of electronic health record usability to design, configure, and execute the usability study and performed quantitative analyses. D2Refine was compared for its usability metrics against two other comparable solutions, OntoMaton and RightField, which have very similar functionalities for creating, managing, and standardizing data dictionaries. We first conducted the function analysis by conducting one-on-one interviews armed with questionnaires to catalog expected functionality. The enrolled participants carried out the steps for selected tasks to accomplish specific goals and their feedback was captured to conduct the task analysis. Results: We enrolled a group (n=27) of study developers, managers, and software professionals to execute steps of analysis as specified by the TURF framework. For the within-model domain function saturation, D2Refine had 96% saturation, which was 4 percentage points better than OntoMaton and 28 percentage points better than RightField. The manual examination and statistical analysis of the data were conducted for task analysis, and the results demonstrated a significant difference for favorability toward D2Refine (P<.001) with a 95% CI. Overall, 17 out of 27 (63%) participants indicated that D2Refine was their favorite of the three options. Conclusions: D2Refine is a useful and promising platform that can help address the emerging needs related to clinical research study data dictionary standardization and harmonization.
On Liberalism’s Religion

This chapter addresses two crucial issues raised by Laborde’s superb Liberalism’s Religion. The first pertains to where the liberal democratic modern state draws the line between the self-governing...
Trends and characteristics of naloxone therapy reported to US poison centers.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In the United States, access to naloxone has been expanded as a measure to address growing opioid overdose mortality. The study aimed to describe the national trends in naloxone use as reported to the US poison centers (PCs). METHODS The National Poison Data System (NPDS) was queried for cases reporting naloxone therapy from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2016. Demographic and clinical characteristics were assessed descriptively. Trends in naloxone reports were evaluated by using generalized linear mixed models that were adjusted for age, gender and random effects of the geographical census region. Cumulative incidence rates (CIR) of naloxone reports at the state- and national-level were calculated. RESULTS There were 304 249 cases reporting naloxone therapy during the study period. The frequency of naloxone reports increased from 9498 in 2000 to 26 826 in 2016. The proportion of cases where naloxone was used prior to PC recommendation increased from 59.8% in 2000 to 81.5% in 2016. The mean number of NPDS naloxone reports per 100 000 human exposures increased from 9.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 6.4-14.2] to 31.7 (95% CI = 21.4-46.9, P < 0.001). Among the cases, 52.4% were female and the most frequent age group was 20-39 years (39.1%). The principal reason for a toxic exposure resulting in a naloxone report was suspected suicide (55.0%). Life-threatening symptoms were seen in one-fifth of the cases, with 53.9% cases being admitted to critical care units. Opioids (59.7% cases), were the most commonly reported exposure agents, with hydrocodone being most frequently reported. The national CIR of naloxone reports to the US PCs was 6.3 cases per 100 000 population, with West Virginia demonstrating the highest incidence. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of calls to the United States poison centers indicates an increasing trend of naloxone use from 2000 to 2016.
Effect of Plate Thickness on the Bending Stress Distribution Around Through Cracks

Theoretical study of plate thickness effect on bending stress distribution around slotted cracks
A Physics Based Study on Charge Delivery Delay of a Power Distribution Network

The potential causes associated with the charge delivery delay to an IC from a time domain standpoint is discussed. It is shown that the impact of wave propagation delay is relatively insignificant in the delivery of charge compared to the delay caused by the loop inductance associated with the power delivery network.
Optimal Control of Bilinear Ensembles with Free-Endpoint Constraints

Optimal control of bilinear ensemble systems has been of great importance and interest in the areas of mathematical and computational optimal control. However, effective methods for solving these emerging optimal control problems remain underdeveloped. In this work, we extend the iterative method developed in our previous work for solving the fixed-endpoint optimal control problems to solve for the optimal control with free-endpoint conditions. The method is based on solving the corresponding optimal control problem for a linear ensemble system at each iteration and does not require numerical optimization. We discuss the convergence of the iterative method and explore the stochastic ensemble systems driven by Gaussian noise. We also illustrate its robustness and applicability with numerical examples.
PROMINENT EUSTACHIAN VALVE AND ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT PRESENTING WITH CHRONIC CYANOSIS IN A TEENAGER

The Eustachian valve (EV) is an embryological remnant of the inferior vena cava (IVC) that during fetal life helps divert oxygenated blood from the IVC toward the foramen ovale. This anomaly can present as an obstructive structure that inhibits antegrade flow through the tricuspid valve and
Surface Modification of Nanoparticles for Ocular Drug Delivery

The eye is a crucial sensory organ and is responsible not only for sight but also for maintaining balance. Ocular diseases are categorized as being either anterior or posterior segment diseases based on the affected segment of the eye. Anterior segment diseases affect the cornea, iris, pupil, ciliary body and/or conjunctiva. Posterior segment diseases affect the sclera, choroid, fovea, optic nerve, retina, and/or vitreous humor. The anterior segment of the eye can be treated via topical administration such as eye drops, while the posterior segment requires either an intravitreal or subconjunctival injection. Surface-modified nanoparticles have made significant headway in the treatment of various diseases. Research has proven that the VEGF pathway may be targeted for treatment in various diseases, such as those affecting the eye. Although receptor-targeted drug delivery shows many advantageous in the treatment of various diseases there are also several challenges that must be overcome, such as proper receptor identification as well as carrier formulation. Additionally, each patient undergoing receptor-targeted treatment must be evaluated to determine target expression, distribution pattern, and the density of receptors on the surface of the same factors undoubtedly prove the potential of nanoparticle surface modifying techniques in the treatment of various ocular diseases.
Sensory Systems and Autism

Some of the sensory issues in Autism are highlighted in this chapter. These include auditory, tactile, and visual challenges that many individuals on the autism spectrum experience. Many children and adults on the spectrum have difficulty organizing, interpreting, and appropriately responding to sensory information. As a result, they have sensory systems that either overreact or underreact. Their sensory challenges may make them respond poorly to loud sounds, touch, and the texture of fabric and seams. Overhead projectors, fluorescent light bulbs, and the smell, color, and texture of food may also be intolerable. Visually, individuals with ASD may have an atypical eye gaze and an inability to detect emotions from the visual data they perceive from faces. They may avert their gaze and find it difficult to look a person in the eyes, and they may not attend to different visual cues that occur at the same time. An awareness of these challenges is necessary in order to increase the comfort, safety, and cooperation of an individual on the autism spectrum.
The Promise of a Prophylactic Epstein-Barr Virus Vaccine

The worldwide burden of disease due to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is enormous. Diseases include endemic Burkitt lymphoma, infectious mononucleosis, cancers after transplantation, Hodgkin lymphoma, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A prophylactic EBV vaccine has the potential to significantly reduce the incidence and/or the severity of all these diseases. Infectious mononucleosis can be nasty and prolonged with a median duration of 17 days. Patients, especially children, undergoing bone marrow or solid organ transplantation may develop post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). Preventing or modifying primary EBV infection could reduce the incidence PTLD, and also certain lymphomas and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. EBV is a major environmental risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). Contracting EBV is essential to getting MS, and having a childhood case of infectious mononucleosis increases that risk. Vaccinating against EBV could be vaccinating against MS.
PERIODIC SOLUTIONS OF DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEMS OF LIÉNARD AND RAYLEIGH TYPE

Publisher Summary This chapter presents periodic solutions of differential systems of Lienard and Rayleigh type. It presents the problem of existence of periodic solutions to nonlinear second-order differential systems of Lienard and Rayleigh type. It highlights Lienard systems with forcing terms of the type x"(t)=(d/dt)F(x(t))+(d/dt)V(x(t),t)+Ax(t)+g(x(t))=e(t), where it is assumed that e(t) is a 2π-periodic continuous function of mean value zero and A is a constant n × n matrix. Cesari and Kannan proved existence theorems for systems of this very general type using only qualitative hypotheses. Their proof was in the framework of Cesari's alternative method, using degree theory and a priori bounds. These theorems require F to be of the form F(x) = grad G(x), G(x) homogeneous of order 2p, p > 0, and of constant sign. However, modifications in the proofs of these theorems allows this condition to be dropped so that the theorems can be restated.
Integrating research projects in CS1

This paper discusses our experience integrating research topics into a first course in computer science. We introduced a medical image processing project using two-dimensional arrays in order to expose students to research topics early in their computing education career.
Positive Sexuality as a Guide for Leisure Research and Practice Addressing Sexual Interests and Behaviors

There is a growing interest among leisure scholars to investigate a wide range of diverse sexual topics from a leisure science perspective. However, leisure experts sometimes struggle with issues s...
Accuracy of Online Pictorial Resources for Common Hand Surgery Procedures.

Background: Online medical platforms can provide patients with easily accessible information and greater opportunities to self-advocate. However, the lack of quality control and presence of inaccur...
Towards AI-enabled Control for Enhancing Quantum Transduction

Author(s): Metcalf, Mekena; Butko, Anastasiia; Kiran, Mariam | Abstract: With advent of quantum internet, it becomes crucial to find novel ways to connect distributed quantum testbeds and develop novel technologies and research that extend innovations in managing the qubit performance. Numerous emerging technologies are focused on quantum repeaters and specialized hardware to extend the quantum distance over special-purpose channels. However, there is little work that utilizes current network technology, invested in optic technologies, to merge with quantum technologies. In this paper we argue for an AI-enabled control that allows optimized and efficient conversion between qubit and photon energies, to enable optic and quantum devices to work together. Our approach integrates AI techniques, such as deep reinforcement learning algorithms, with physical quantum transducer to inform real-time conversion between the two wavelengths. Learning from simulated environment, the trained AI-enabled transducer will lead to optimal quantum transduction to maximize the qubit lifetime.
Taking Conflict Transformation Education Seriously

Overcoming a widespread misunderstanding of what is needed to build peaceful societies stands as one of the greatest global challenges of our time. Governments typically overinvest in military approaches to state security while much-smaller investments in development programs meant to improve human security and resilience to conflict are much too short-term and apolitical. Education often is overlooked as a possible peacebuilding mechanism, and when it is not, is treated, quite literally, as a children’s matter. This chapter argues that building a global constituency that understands, supports, and engages effectively in peacebuilding will require a radical shift toward a new form of education for youth separate from the mostly failed enterprise known as peace education. Conflict Transformation Education (CTE)—characterized by its explicit political nature, a commitment to thoughtful deliberation and dialogue, efforts to develop cross-communal peacebuilding constituencies, a renewed focus on interdisciplinarity, and an emphasis on creativity—stands as higher education’s answer to over-securitization. Recent experiences of higher education actors in Iraq, Colombia, and Kuwait offer helpful examples of how scholars and students based in those contexts already have been using CTE methods to counteract dominant narratives about the inevitability of violence and instead to create and reinforce notions of shared fate that are prerequisites to building and sustaining peace.
Trade and Depletion with a Resource Intensive Export

This article examines the dynamic general equilibrium of a small open economy producing a nonrenewable resource-intensive export and an import-competing good. Optimal depletion ties the rate of inc...
The troubling trend of academic makerspaces

Technology-centered makerspaces are increasingly being built in academic libraries, typically featuring high tech machines and software that facilitate creation and design. In this essay, Juliana M...
No evidence for whole-chromosome dosage compensation or global transcriptomic expression differences in spontaneously-aneuploid mutation accumulation lines of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Aneuploidy, the state in which an organism9s genome contains one or more missing or additional chromosomes, often causes widespread genotypic and phenotypic effects. Most often, aneuploidies are deleterious; the most common examples in humans being Down9s syndrome (Trisomy 21) and Turner9s syndrome (monosomy X). However, aneuploidy is surprisingly common in wild yeast populations. In recent years, there has been debate as to whether yeast contain an innate dosage compensation response that operates at the gene, chromosome, or the whole-genome level, or if natural isolates are robust to aneuploidy without such a mechanism. In this study, we tested for differential gene expression in 20 aneuploid and 16 euploid lines of yeast from two previous mutation accumulation experiments, where selection was minimized and therefore aneuploidies arose spontaneously. We found no evidence for whole-chromosome dosage compensation in aneuploid yeast but did find some evidence for attenuation of expression on a gene-by-gene basis. We additionally found that aneuploidy has no effect on the expression of the rest of the genome (i.e. 9trans9 genes), and that very few mutually exclusive aneuploid lines shared differentially expressed genes. However, we found there was a small set of genes that exhibited a shared expression response in the euploid lines, suggesting an effect of mutation accumulation on gene expression. Our findings contribute to our understanding of aneuploidy in yeast and support the hypothesis that there is no innate dosage compensation mechanism at the whole-chromosome level.