cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multiple sclerosis: current concepts and management.

Multiple sclerosis has been clinically recognized for more than a century, but its etiology is still unclear. An increasingly compelling, albeit indirect, case can be made for an autoimmune/viral process in which humoral and cellular responses are directed against both myelin components and normal immunoregulatory effector cells, such as the suppressor T lymphocytes.
Autologous Minced Muscle Grafts Improve Muscle Strength in a Porcine Model of Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury.

Objectives:The traumatic loss of muscle tissue, defined as volumetric muscle loss (VML) injury, has no definitive therapy. The purposes of this study were: (1) to develop a porcine model of VML and (2) to investigate autologous minced muscle grafts (1-mm3 pieces of muscle) as a potential therapeutic
An empirical assessment of the effects of economic recessions on pedestrian-injury crashes using mixed and latent-class models

This study explores the differences in pedestrian injury severity in three distinct economic time periods from the recent global recession (the Great Recession): pre-recession, recession, and post-recession. Using data from pedestrian crashes in Chicago, Illinois over an eight-year period, separate time-period models of pedestrian-injury severities (with possible outcomes of severe injury, moderate injury, and minor injury) were estimated using latent-class logit and mixed logit models. Likelihood ratio tests were conducted to examine the overall stability of model estimates across time periods and marginal effects of each explanatory variable were also considered to investigate the temporal stability of the effect of individual parameter estimates on pedestrian injury-severity probabilities. A wide range of variables potentially affecting injury severities was considered including time, location, and severity of crashes, as well as data on roadway and environmental conditions, pedestrian characteristics, and crash characteristics. Our findings show significant temporal instability, which likely results from a combination of the economic recession and the long-term evolution of the influence of factors that affect pedestrian-injury severity. Understanding and explicitly modeling the evolution of driver and pedestrian behavior is a promising direction for future research, but this would unfortunately require far more extensive data than is currently available in traditional safety databases. Language: en
Winter Preference for Weed Seed and Waste Grain by Native Mice in Row-Crop Agriculture

Consumption of weed seeds and waste grains by seed predators is an important ecosystem service that helps to regulate weed and volunteer crop populations in many agricultural systems. The prairie deer mouse is found in a variety of sparsely vegetated habitats throughout the central United States and is the dominant vertebrate seed predator in row-crop fields (corn and soybean) in this region. Evaluating the preferences of prairie deer mice for common agricultural weed seeds and waste grain is important to understand the potential ability of native mice to regulate volunteer crops and weed populations. We evaluated winter seed preference of deer mice using cafeteria-style feeding trials presented within row-crop fields in central Indiana and used compositional analysis to compare proportional consumption of seeds from five common agricultural weeds (common ragweed, common cocklebur, common lambsquarters, velvetleaf, and giant foxtail) and two grains (corn and soybean) during overnight feeding trials. Prair...
A demographic survey of Iu-Mien in West Coast states of the U.S., 1993.

Beginning in 1975, Mien refugees migrated to the United States from the highlands of Southeast Asia, primarily but not exclusively from Laos. Reported here are 1993 data on the basic size and composition of the Iu-Mien population in the West Coast states (Washington, Oregon, and California), the most popular settlement destination for this group. Three-fourths of Mien in this region live in California. Surveys reveal a young population, half being under age 15 years but with a surprisingly large (6.8%) proportion of people aged 60 or older. Approximately half of all Mien households, which typically contain 5–7 members, are two-generation nuclear families, i.e., parents and their school-age or younger children. Through the addition of grandparents, other kin, or unrelated individuals, the remaining households comprise three- or four-generation domestic units. Most (around 90%) Mien households are headed by middle-aged males, although some households in all locations are headed by females. Employment rates for Mien households vary by state and by location in an urban or rural area. State welfare policies as well as differential availability of work for unskilled or poorly educated individuals seem to be major factors accounting for differences in employment.
Noise robust dysarthric speech classification using domain adaptation

This paper will investigate viability of a screening application that could be used to identify individuals with Dysarthria from among a larger population using sentence-level speech data. This task presents a number of challenged particularly if we aim to identify the disorder in the earlier stages before the more significant symptoms have begun to manifest themselves. A principal challenge in this task is acheiving robustness to the large number of confounding variables such as gender, age, accent, speaking style, and recording conditions. All of these variables will affect an individuals speech in a manner unrelated to the disorder, and identifying what information is relevant to the disorder amongst these confounding variables given the limited amount of data that is available in this regime presents a major engineering challenge. In this paper we will focus on achieving robustness to different types and levels of noise by employing a feature selection algorithm that attempts to minimize a non-parametric upper bound of the error in the noisy condition. This is a crucial problem to solve as the clean recording conditions used in data collection are typically a poor reflection of the type of data that will be encountered upon deployment.
Possible Role of Microsomal Changes Induced by Ethanol Intake in the Development of Tolerance and Dependence

Characteristics of alcoholism include the development of both tolerance and dependence to ethanol. Probably the most significant aspect of ethanol tolerance is increased central nervous system tolerance, that is a progressive decrease in responsiveness of the central nervous system to a given level of alcohol. In addition to this central nervous effect, part of the adaptation is due to increased rates of ethanol metabolism, so called metabolic adaptation. Indeed, it has been found that alcoholics have unusually high rates of ethanol metabolism (Isbell et al., 1955; Kater et al., 1969a). Moreover, experimental ethanol administration results in increased rate of ethanol metabolism, both in man (Misra et al., 1971) and in rats (Hawkins et al., 1966; Lieber and DeCarli, 1970a; Tobon and Mezey, 1971). The mechanism of this acceleration is still the subject of debate. Some of the results to be discussed favor a possible role of microsomal changes induced by ethanol consumption in the development of the metabolic tolerance to ethanol. Similarly, a hypothesis will be presented according to which the microsomal changes may contribute to the development of dependence. Since this theory results from the elucidation of a new pathway for ethanol metabolism, namely the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), a description of the latter will precede the discussion of its contribution to the development of adaptation and dependence.
Food contaminants--viruses.

Viruses have been detected in a limited number of foods. Although methods used to examine these foods were usually restricted to detection of human enteroviruses, animal viruses were found in some meats, milk, and eggs; limitations in methodology may have caused other viruses present to go undetected. As the sensitivity of methods increases, studies are being undertaken to detect a greater variety of human intestinal viruses. Data from these investigations should provide the information needed to determine the incidence and public health significance of food contamination by viruses. In areas where virus-contaminated foods may be expected, washing and heating foods to 70 C should provide reasonable protection against the inadvertent consumption of viruses.
Learners' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Blogging for L2 Writing in Fully Online Language Courses

The study explores how the application of blog assignments facilitated the L2 writing process and how blogging affects the way students view blog-based L2 writing instruction and peer feedback. The results showed that beginning students had a positive attitude toward the use of blogs because it gave them agency over their learning, and engaged them in co-construction of knowledge with their peers. While scaffolding through peer feedback affected students' self-regulated efforts to make improvement on written content and increase language accuracy, strategies for effective use of feedback from the instructor was important. This study concludes that blogging not only empowers students to be creative with the content, but also promotes attention to language forms. L2 educators are strongly encouraged to take full advantage of the widely available blog technology by incorporating it into their teaching methods to further promote critical reflection and collaborative interaction within socially bounded online learning environments.
Hemicholinium-3 sensitive choline transport in human T lymphocytes: Evidence for use as a proxy for brain choline transporter (CHT) capacity

The synaptic uptake of choline via the high-affinity, hemicholinium-3-dependent choline transporter (CHT) strongly influences the capacity of cholinergic neurons to sustain acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis and release. To advance research on the impact of CHT capacity in humans, we established the presence of the neuronal CHT protein in human T lymphocytes. Next, we demonstrated CHT-mediated choline transport in human T cells. To address the validity of T cell-based choline uptake as a proxy for brain CHT capacity, we isolated T cells from the spleen, and synaptosomes from cortex and striatum, of wild type and CHT-overexpressing mice (CHT-OXP). Choline uptake capacity in T cells from CHT-OXP mice was two-fold higher than in wild type mice, mirroring the impact of CHT over-expression on synaptosomal CHT-mediated choline uptake. Monitoring T lymphocyte CHT protein and activity may be useful for estimating human CNS cholinergic capacity and for testing hypotheses concerning the contribution of CHT and, more generally, ACh signaling in cognition, neuroinflammation and disease.
Liminal learning: Social practice in seasonal settlements of western Ireland:

This article explores the perception and practice of everyday life at transhumant settlements in western Ireland during the period, c.1750–1920 AD. Small-scale summer transhumance to upland pasture...
Checking Out the Checkoff: An Overview and Where We are Now that the Legal Battles Have Quieted

Beef: It‘s What‘s for Dinner.® Got Milk?® Pork, the Other White Meat.® The Incredible, Edible Egg.™ Sound familiar? Odds are, each of us has heard, said, or discussed one of the phrases listed above. On the surface, it may be unclear what each slogan has in common, aside from the fact they are used in advertising campaigns. The source of each slogan though, is what we will continue to discuss through these next few pages. The source for each of these slogans is a state or national checkoff advertising program. These pro-grams exist in numerous shapes and forms, with various types of programs and markets. Some are voluntary, some mandatory, but most have been the subject of some controversy over the past 10 years. While the most recent Supreme Court checkoff decision in 2005 appears to have cooled the furor of this spate of checkoff litigation, the future of checkoff programs and where they are headed is far from crystal clear. In these next few pages, I will briefly review the history of checkoff programs, summarize the beef and pork checkoff program litigation, and take a look at where we are now in terms of the various programs.
Ideological Phrase Indicators for Classification of Political Discourse Framing on Twitter

Politicians carefully word their statements in order to influence how others view an issue, a political strategy called framing. Simultaneously, these frames may also reveal the beliefs or positions on an issue of the politician. Simple language features such as unigrams, bigrams, and trigrams are important indicators for identifying the general frame of a text, for both longer congressional speeches and shorter tweets of politicians. However, tweets may contain multiple unigrams across different frames which limits the effectiveness of this approach. In this paper, we present a joint model which uses both linguistic features of tweets and ideological phrase indicators extracted from a state-of-the-art embedding-based model to predict the general frame of political tweets.
Text Messaging for Improving Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: No Effects After 1 Year in a Randomized Controlled Trial Among Adolescents and Young Adults.

Objectives. To assess the effectiveness of Short Message Service (SMS) reminder messages on antiretroviral and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis adherence among HIV-positive youths as well as the relative effectiveness of SMS with and without a response option.Methods. Eligible HIV-positive patients aged 15 to 22 years at 2 HIV clinics in Kampala, Uganda, participated in a year-long parallel individual-randomized controlled trial and were assigned in a 1-to-1-to-1 ratio to a weekly SMS message group, weekly SMS message with response option group, or a usual-care control group.Results. We enrolled 332 participants. Electronically measured mean adherence was 67% in the control group, 64% in the 1-way SMS group (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77, 1.14), and 61% in the 2-way SMS group (95% CI = 0.75, 1.12) in an intent-to-treat analysis. Results for secondary outcomes and complete-case analysis were similarly statistically insignificant across groups.Conclusions. Despite previous evidence that interventions using S...
Stochastic model predictive control with active uncertainty learning: A Survey on dual control

Abstract This paper provides a review of model predictive control (MPC) methods with active uncertainty learning. System uncertainty poses a key theoretical and practical challenge in MPC, which can be aggravated when system uncertainty increases due to the time-varying nature of system dynamics. For uncertain systems with stochastic uncertainty, this paper presents the stochastic MPC (SMPC) problem in the dual control paradigm, where the control inputs to an uncertain system have a probing effect for active uncertainty learning and a directing effect for controlling the system dynamics. The complexity of the SMPC problem with dual control effect is described in connection to stochastic dynamic programming as well as Bayesian estimation for its output feedback implementation. Further, implicit and explicit dual control methods for approximating the receding-horizon control problem with dual control effect are surveyed and analyzed with the intent to discuss the key challenges and opportunities in SMPC with dual control effect.
Abstract 18359: Maturation of Reprogrammed Endothelial Cells Using a Single Transcription Factor in a Prolonged Cultivation

Introduction: Endothelial cells (ECs) are an essential component of blood vessels and are crucial for repairing injured and ischemic tissues. Previously, we showed that a single EC transcription fa...
Effect of Intermetallic Content on Shear Deformation of Thin Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Solder Micro-joints Between Copper Substrates

In 3D electronic packages, stacked dies are connected vertically using through-silicon vias and solder micro-bumps, which are typically between 1 μm and 50 μm thick. Solder micro-joints undergo significant shear deformation due to various loading conditions, which can occur during usage of microelectronic devices, such as thermal cycling, mechanical bending, and drop impact. A limited amount of work has been done in shear deformation and failure mechanism of these joints. To explore this, 25-μm-thick joints of SAC305 solder between two Cu substrates were tested, containing three different Cu6Sn5-to-Cu3Sn ratios, in shear at strain rates from 1 s−1 to 100 s−1. The joint shear strength is correlated with observed failure mechanisms such as Sn, Cu6Sn5, Cu3Sn and Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn interface failure. The growth kinetics of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in thin Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu joints attached to Cu substrates have been analyzed, and empirical kinetic laws for the growth of Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn in thin joints are reported. By combining the shear deformation results, we infer that increased IMC content due to heat treatment deteriorates the mechanical properties of the joint due to the presence of disconnected incipient micro-cracks. Deformation and damage are controlled by the intermetallics, and not the strain-rate sensitive solder for the aged samples. Both Cu6Sn5 and the Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn interface fracture are the dominant mechanisms with increasing aging under the shear deformation.
The Phases of Matter

Various stability problems have been addressed in the preceding chapters, particularly in Chapter 3 where we discussed briefly the stability of the equilibrium states of macroscopic systems. These states are defined by, and are functions of thermodynamic variables which themselves range over certain domains. Experience indicates that these domains separate into subdomains for which the equilibrium states can be grouped into qualitatively different classes, and thus one encounters different phases of the same bit of matter.
Uterine emergencies : Atony, inversion, and rupture

Postpartum hemorrhage is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy. Uterine atony, rupture, and inversion are three potentially fatal causes of hemorrhage that may occur before, during, or after delivery. These obstetric emergencies require immediate attention. Although they occur uncommonly, the obstetric team must be aware of these potential complications to be prepared for rapid and appropriate intervention. A delay in treatment leads to a high rate of both maternal and fetal mortality.
A new kind of finite-state automaton: register vector grammar

Register Vector Grammar is a new kind of f in i te -s ta te automaton that is sensitive to context—without, of course, being contextsensitive in the sense of Chomsky hierarchy. Traditional automata are functionally simple: symbols match by identi ty and change by replacement. RVG is functionally complex: ternary feature vectors (e.g. +-±--++) match and change by masking ( + matches but does not change any value). Functional complexity—as opposed to the computat ional complexity of non-finite memory—is well suited for modelling multiple and discontinuous constraints. RVG is thus very good at handling the permutations and dependencies of syntax (wh-questions are explored as example). Because center-embedding in natural languages is in fact very shallow and constrained, context-free power is not needed. RVG can thus be guaranteed to run in a small l inear time, because it is FS, and yet can capture generalizations and constraints that functionally simple FS grammars cannot.
Complications of biceps tenodesis based on location, fixation, and indication: a review of 1526 shoulders

Background Long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) tenodesis is predominantly performed for 2 reasons: anterior shoulder pain (ASP) or structural reasons (partial tear, dislocation). Methods Between 2006 and 2014, all cases of primary LHBT tenodesis performed at an integrated health care system were retrospectively reviewed. Complications were analyzed by tenodesis location (below or out of the groove [OOG] vs leaving tendon in the groove [ITG]), fixation method (soft tissue vs implant), and indication (preoperative ASP vs structural). Results Among 1526 shoulders, persistent ASP did not differ by fixation method (11.0% for implant vs 12.8% for soft tissue, P = .550) or location (10.8% for OOG vs 12.9% for ITG, P = .472). Soft-tissue tenodesis cases had more frequent new-onset ASP (11.9% vs 2.6%, P Conclusion The overall complication rate of LHBT tenodesis was low. Of the shoulders, 10.8% to 12.9% continued to have ASP, regardless of whether the LHBT was left ITG. Soft-tissue tenodesis cases had higher rates of new-onset ASP and subjective weakness. No significant difference for tenodesis ITG or OOG was found in biceps-related complications.
Incidence of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features and change in risk of malignancy for "The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology".

Introduction The second edition of The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology has incorporated the recent change in nomenclature, noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP), with an anticipated change in the risk of malignancy (ROM). We examined our institutional experience in the incidence of NIFTP and the change in the ROM in The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Materials and methods A computerized search was performed from January 2013 to August 2017 for all thyroid fine needle aspirations (FNAs), the corresponding surgical resection specimens, and clinical follow-up data. All thyroid specimens reported as follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma were reviewed and reclassified, and all NIFTP diagnoses from April 2016 to August 2017 were identified. The ROM for each category was calculated before and after the change and analyzed for significance. Results A total of 4500 thyroid FNA cases were collected. Of these, 479 cases had surgical resection specimens available and 36 cases had been diagnosed as NIFTP. Of these, 22 had been previously diagnosed as FVPT. Of 27 cases of NIFTP, 14 and 13 were atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance and follicular neoplasm/suspicious for follicular neoplasm, respectively. A reduction in the ROM was observed in these 2 categories (P = 0.03 and P = 0.04, respectively). Conclusions In our institution, NIFTP has accounted for 13% of all malignant thyroid neoplasms since the change in nomenclature. Although the ROM was decreased in the affected categories, with absolute statistically significant decreases in ROM of 15% and 16.2% for category III and IV, respectively, the overall ROM change was marginal.
Location-specific differences in hematoma volume predict outcomes in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background and objectiveFunctional outcome after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) may vary depending on hematoma volume and location. We assessed the interaction between hematoma volume a...
Duplex ultrasound surveillance of renal branch grafts after fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair

Abstract Objective The use of duplex ultrasound (DUS) examinations for surveillance after fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR) is not well-studied. Our objective was to further characterize normal and abnormal duplex findings in renal branch grafts after FEVAR. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a single-center experience involving consecutive patients treated with Cook ZFEN devices between 2012 and 2017. Postoperative imaging consisted of a computed tomography (CT) scan at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and annually thereafter. As experienced progressed, DUS examination with or without concurrent CT scans were obtained in a nonstandardized protocol, particularly for patients with decreased renal function. Renal patency loss was defined as occlusion or stenosis of greater than 50% evaluated on 3-day renal artery center-line imaging. Results A total of 116 patients were treated with FEVAR, of which 60 (51.7%) had concurrent CT and renal DUS images available for review. Six patients (10%) had limited ultrasound studies owing to bowel gas and were excluded. The study cohort therefore included 54 patients receiving of 94 renal fenestrated stents with a mean follow-up of 23 months. Twelve cases of renal patency loss in 10 patients (9 stenoses, 3 occlusions) were found on CT scanning, 11 (91.6%) of which had concurrent abnormalities found on ultrasound examination. Stents with compression at the junction of the main body exhibited significantly elevated mean Peak systolic velocities (PSV) compared with nonstenosed stents (349.2 cm/s vs 115.3 cm/s; P = .003). Stenosis in the most proximal portion of the stent (ie, within the main body) showed no difference in proximal PSV (86.0 cm/s vs 131.9 cm/s; P = .257); however, dampened PSV showed significant differences in the mid (17.5 cm/s vs 109.9 cm/s; P = .027) and distal (19.0 cm/s vs 78.3 cm/s; P = .028) segments compared with nonstenosed stents. All occluded stents demonstrated no flow detection. Proximal PSV served as a strong classifier for junctional stenosis (area under the curve, 0.98). A combined criterion of proximal PSV of greater than 215 cm/s or distal PSV of less than 25 cm/s resulted in a sensitivity of 91.6% and specificity of 85.3% for detecting patency loss. All stents that were compromised underwent successful secondary reintervention and restoration of patency. Conclusions DUS imaging is a clinically useful modality for surveillance of renal branch grafts after FEVAR. Patterns of segmental velocity elevation (proximal PSV, >215 cm/s) and dampening in the distal renal indicate potential hemodynamic compromise and should prompt more aggressive workup or imaging and likely be considered for secondary intervention.
Combination of Cannabinoids, Δ9- Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol, Ameliorates Experimental Multiple Sclerosis by Suppressing Neuroinflammation Through Regulation of miRNA-Mediated Signaling Pathways.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and disabling disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by neuroinflammation leading to demyelination. Recently a combination of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) extracted from Cannabis has been approved in many parts of the world to treat MS-related spasticity. THC+CBD combination was also shown to suppresses neuroinflammation, although the mechanisms remain to be further elucidated. In the current study, we demonstrate that THC+CBD combination therapy (10mg/kg each) but not THC or CBD alone, attenuates murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by reducing neuroinflammation and suppression of Th17 and Th1 cells. These effects were mediated through CB1 and CB2 receptors inasmuch as, THC+CBD failed to ameliorate EAE in mice deficient in CB1 and CB2. THC+CBD treatment also caused a decrease in the levels of brain infiltrating CD4+ T cells and pro-inflammatory molecules (IL-17, INF-γ, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and TBX21), while increasing anti-inflammatory phenotype such as FoxP3, STAT5b, IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β. Also, the brain-derived cells showed increased apoptosis along with decreased percentage in G0/G1 phase with increased percentage in G2/M phase of cell cycle. miRNA microarray analysis of brain-derived CD4+ T cells revealed that THC+CBD treatment significantly down-regulated miR-21a-5p, miR-31-5p, miR-122-5p, miR-146a-5p, miR-150-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-27b-5p while upregulating miR-706-5p and miR-7116. Pathway analysis showed that majority of the down-regulated miRs targeted molecules involved in cycle arrest and apoptosis such as CDKN2A, BCL2L11, and CCNG1, as well as anti-inflammatory molecules such as SOCS1 and FoxP3. Additionally, transfection studies involving miR-21 and use of Mir21-/- mice suggested that while this miR plays a critical role in EAE, additional miRs may also be involved in THC+CBD-mediated attenuation of EAE. Collectively, this study suggests that combination of THC+CBD suppresses neuroinflammation and attenuates clinical EAE development and that this effect is associated with changes in miRNA profile in brain-infiltrating cells.
Acupuncture for pediatric pain: The trend of evidence-based research.

Abstract Background and aim Acupuncture is part of thousand years Traditional Chinese Medicine. There was promising evidence to support the efficacy of acupuncture in reducing postoperative surgery and dental pain, as well as chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. The US National Health Statistics Report indicated that there was significant increase in the use of acupuncture. Research on acupuncture has allowed for its integration into common adult pain practice. Acupuncture can also be utilized in pediatric patients. Experimental procedure We evaluate the evidence-based acupuncture for pediatric pain research from 2008 to 2017. Results and Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment is well supported to be effective treatment for pediatric procedural pain, infantile colic, adolescent pelvic pain, and headaches under specific intervention methods. There is increasing interest in using acupuncture and related techniques for pediatric pain management. However, the evidence-based randomized controlled trials using acupuncture for pediatric pain management is very limited. Further randomized controlled trial research in pediatric pain is urgently needed.
Enhancing Case Capture, Quality, and Completeness of Primary Melanoma Pathology Records via Natural Language Processing.

PURPOSEMedical records contain a wealth of useful, informative data points valuable for clinical research. Most data points are stored in semistructured or unstructured legacy documents and require...
Beneath the Surface of the Mathematics Teacher Shortage.

Although the shortage of mathematics teachers has been well documented for many years, there seems to be no serious effort to alleviate it. We cannot even as sume that the shortage is widely known. Just before last November's election, I had occasion to mention to a candidate for statewide office that I was doing a study on this shortage. His reply was, "Is there a shortage?" Even our leaders are not always informed. Frequent articles in the news media reporting on the overall surplus of teach ers either fail to point out that the surplus does not apply to all specialties or don't mention it until the later paragraphs. Be cause citizens have been bombarded by so many societal problems, they have be come insensitive to general calls for change. Unless the message gets through
Food Allergy Bullying as Disability Harassment: Holding Schools Accountable

Millions of American school children suffer from food allergies, and increasingly, these children are bullied because of their allergies. If the bully exposes the victim to the allergen, food allergy bullying can sicken or kill within minutes. Food allergy bullying is already responsible for many hospitalizations and at least one death. Most food allergy bullying happens at school, and schools play a crucial part in addressing and preventing bullying. All too often, though, schools fail to take appropriate action. Sovereign immunity insulates public schools from liability in many instances, but federal disability law may provide a solution. This article forges a new path through disability law for schools to be held liable for food allergy bullying under federal disability discrimination laws. It advocates for food allergy being classified as a disability in most instances under these laws, which would then provide the basis for school liability based on a theory of disability harassment. This statutory claim avoids the sovereign immunity hurdle and holds schools accountable for their role in facilitating or refusing to respond appropriately, thereby motivating schools to protect allergic children from bullying.
Spatial grain of adaptation is much finer than ecoregional-scale common gardens reveal.

Adaptive variation among plant populations must be known for effective conservation and restoration of imperiled species and predicting their responses to a changing climate. Common-garden experiments, in which plants sourced from geographically distant populations are grown together such that genetic differences may be expressed, have provided much insight on adaptive variation. Common-garden experiments also form the foundation for climate-based seed-transfer guidelines. However, the spatial scale at which population differentiation occurs is rarely addressed, leaving a critical information gap for parameterizing seed-transfer guidelines and assessing species' climate vulnerability. We asked whether adaptation was evident among populations of a foundational perennial within a single "empirical" seed-transfer zone (based on previous common-garden findings evaluating very distant populations) but different "provisional" seed zones (groupings of areas of similar climate and are not parameterized from common-garden data). Seedlings from three populations originating from similar conditions within an intermediate elevation were planted into gardens nearby at the same elevation, or 250-450 m higher or lower in elevation and 0.4-25 km away. Substantial variation was observed between gardens in survival (ranging 2%-99%), foliar crown volume (7.8-22.6 dm3), and reproductive effort (0%-65%), but not among the three transplanted populations. The between garden variation was inversely related to climatic differences between the gardens and seed-source populations, specifically the site differences in maximum-minimum annual temperatures. Results suggest that substantial site-specificity in adaptation can occur at finer scales than is accounted for in empirical seed-transfer guidance when the guidance is derived from broadscale common-garden studies. Being within the same empirical seed zone, geographic unit, and even within 10 km distance may not qualify as "local" in the context of seed transfer. Moving forward, designing common-garden experiments so that they allow for testing the scale of adaptation will help in translating the resulting seed-transfer guidance to restoration projects.
Overview of Current Approaches to Aural Rehabilitation for Adults With Cochlear Implants

Purpose This clinical focus article provides an overview of clinical models currently being used for the provision of comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for adults with cochlear implants (CIs)...
70 Year Old White Male with Grouped Blisters on Right Lower Leg

A 70-year-old male presented with a painful, itchy rash. The rash began with an itchy sensation which then transformed into blisters that were easily breakable. The patient is a long term resident at a local nursing home. The patient was also allergic to Zocor and Fluvastatin.
Utilizing process improvement strategies to generate clinic templates and improve patient flow in pediatric otolaryngology.

Abstract Objectives To examine outcomes from process improvement strategies aimed to: 1) develop computer generated physician clinic templates using captured and historic clinical data, and, 2) introduce said new template designs while maintaining historic daily patient volumes. Methods An Institutional Review Board approved retrospective review of time stamped data collection in a tertiary facility pediatric otolaryngology clinic. Results A discrete-event simulation was built from timestamps associated with clinic interaction milestones. The data were analyzed to develop standard clinic templates with the goal to reduce patient overall visit length by 10%. A total of 12,052 clinic visits were analyzed, 8,045 before (avg. of 62.9 visits/day) and 4,007 after (avg. of 65.7 visits/day) template standardization. The change led to a 10.5% (5.5 min, p Conclusion Discrete-event simulation, using the principles of process improvement, is effective in guiding clinic operational redesign. This quality improvement project decreased the average length of clinic visit by 10% with no impact on historic high clinic volumes. Patient flow can improve in high volume pediatric otolaryngology practices by using process improvement strategies and discrete-event simulations to create standardized provider templates. Theoretically, this strategy can lead to improved patient and physician experiences along with an increase in patient visits over time.
Sensitivity of Advanced RAIM performance to mischaracterizations in Integrity Support Message values

With the increasing number of navigation satellite constellations from multiple service providers, an emerging concept for receiver avionics is being developed which will significantly improve the current, widely available operations based on the classical Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). This emerging concept, called Advanced RAIM (ARAIM), is envisioned to eventually provide a worldwide approach capability for Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV). One major architectural change of ARAIM from RAIM is introduction of the Integrity Support Message (ISM), which is a set of parameters representing the statistical characterization of the core navigation constellation performance. The ISM values will be periodically updated and used as a priori information in the ARAIM user algorithm. Therefore, it is critical to broadcast ISM values that would provide optimal ARAIM performance balanced between the margins of integrity, continuity, and availability. In this paper, we analyze the sensitivity of ARAIM performance to potential ISM mischaracterization.
Marketing Scholarship and the Sustainable Development Goals: Thoughts on Moving Forward:

This article is a commentary on how marketing scholarship can be more relevant as it tackles the human development challenges presented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The commentary a...
Zooming in: epidemic, pandemic, endemic

Like all the essays that appear in this volume, our introduction is a story of disruption, hesitation, and innovation necessitated by the challenges of an unprecedented year. A longstanding Interdi...
Non-Linear Inversion of Seismic Data by Successive Approximation of Model Parameter Probability Distribution Functions

Inversion of seismic data from a 1-D elastic earth is accomplished by choosing models randomly from a distribution which is the reciprocal of the objective function. Minima in the objective function correspond to peaks in distribution, thereby enhancing the probability that more models will be chosen from this area. Results show good recovery of dominant model parameters values and their uncertainties.
DFlow and DField: New features for capturing object and image relationships

In this paper we propose two new types of features useful for problems in which one wants to describe object or image relationships rather than objects or images themselves. The features are based on the notion of distribution flow, as derived from the classic Transportation Problem. Two variants of such features, the Distribution Flow (DFlow) and Displacement Field (DField), are defined and studied. The proposed features show promising results in two different applications, Inter- and Intra-Class Relationship Characterization, and improve on simple concatenation of corresponding pairs of histograms.
CONSERTING: integrating copy number analysis with structural variation detection

CONSERTING detects somatic copy-number alterations from whole-genome sequence data with high accuracy and sensitivity and identifies breakpoints even in heterogeneous or impure tumors.
Dietary hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate reduction of aflatoxin M1 residue in dairy goat milk and effects on milk production and components.

Lactating dairy goats were exposed to aflatoxin (100 and 200 ppb) and hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate at 1, 2, and 4% in two separate experiments. Naturally occurring low levels of aflatoxin M1 (.009 ppb) were found in the milk of the control diet, whereas there were no detectable levels of aflatoxin M1 in the milk of diets containing hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate in both experiments. In Exp. 1, no treatment-related differences in clinical behavior or significant difference in the feed intake, milk production, or milk component analyses were observed with 200 ppb of aflatoxin and 4% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate. However, 4% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate was responsible for an 86.9% reduction of aflatoxin M1 residue in the milk of diary goats. In Exp. 2, the combination of 1% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate and aflatoxin at 100 ppb resulted in an overall reduction of aflatoxin M1 residue by 51.9%, which represented a mean change of aflatoxin M1 from .553 to .266 ppb of aflatoxin M1 in the milk. The diet that contained 2% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate and 100 ppb of aflatoxin further reduced aflatoxin residue by a mean change from .553 to .098 of ppb aflatoxin M1, which represents an 82.2% reduction of aflatoxin M1 residue in the milk. Analysis of the data by time indicated that there were no statistical differences between days of sampling. Information regarding the ability of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate to prevent or reduce the level of aflatoxin M1 residues in milk is critically needed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Cysteamine-induced depletion of somatostatin in sheep: time course of depletion and changes in plasma metabolites, insulin, and growth hormone.

Eight crossbred wethers (51 +/- 2 kg BW), surgically fitted with abomasal cannulas, were used to determine the extent and time course of cysteamine (CSH)-induced depletion of somatostatin (SRIF) in abomasal tissue and associated changes in plasma metabolites, insulin, and growth hormone (GH). Cysteamine was administered as a single i.v. bolus (50 mg.kg BW-1 x 10 min-1) on d 0. Abomasal biopsies were obtained on d -7, -3, 0, 1, 3, and 10. On d 0, additional biopsies were taken at 2, 4, and 8 h after CSH administration. Jugular blood samples were collected over 8 h at 15-min intervals on d -2, 0, and 1. Cysteamine administration decreased (P < .05) tissue SRIF on d 0 (2, 4, and 8 h), 1, and 3; maximal depletion (42 to 55% of Pre-treatment; Pre-trt) occurred during the initial 24 h, returning to Pre-trt by d 10. Gel chromatography of pooled -7 d abomasal tissue extracts showed five peaks of SRIF immunoreactivity; the predominate peak eluted in the same position as synthetic SRIF-14. Plasma glucose, lactate, and NEFA concentrations increased (P = .001) after CSH administration and reached peak at 2 h after treatment and declined to Pre-trt concentrations by 24 h. Insulin increased (P = .001) to a maximum at h 4 and returned to Pre-trt by 24 h. Mean and baseline GH were higher (P < .07) on day of CSH administration, and pulse amplitude was lower (P < .10) on d 0 and 1. These data show that CSH rapidly reduces SRIF in abomasal tissue in a reversible manner; suggesting that CSH-treated sheep may provide a SRIF-deficient model for studying the physiological role of SRIF in ruminants.
Poverty Traps and Safety Nets

We thank Alain de Janvry and Ravi Kanbur for their invitation to participate in this event, Erik Thorbecke for his ongoing inspiration to so many of us, Michael Carter, Stefan Dercon and Dan Maxwell for helpful discussions that have informed parts of this paper, Alok Bhargava, Jan Willem Gunning, Martin Ravallion, an anonymous referee and conference participants for helpful comments, and Erin Lentz, Andrew Mude and Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle for excellent research assistance. This work has been made possible, in part, by support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through grant LAG-A-00-96-90016-00 through the BASIS CRSP, grants DAN-1328-G-00-0046-00 and PCE-G-98-00036-00 through the Pastoral Risk Management Project of the Global Livestock CRSP, and grant HFM-A-00-0100132-00 to the Strategies and Analyses for Growth and Access (SAGA) cooperative agreement. The views expressed here and any remaining errors are mine and do not represent any official agency.
Housing Investment and the U.S. Economy: How Have the Relationships Changed?

Previous research has found that housing investment has a disproportionate role in the U.S. business cycle. This paper demonstrates that the relationship between housing and the rest of the economy...
The high cost of aiding business in developing economies : Nigeria's loans programmes

HEAVY reliance is placed on indigenous private enterprise in many economically underdeveloped countries. Although the governments may participate in the directly productive sector of these economies, the major target of economic policy is frequently to provide an adequate infrastructure and, more generally, a congenial and supportive setting for private business. Since foreign investment can be expected to provide only a small portion of the capital that is needed (and since the countries themselves fervently wish to lessen dependence on foreign capitalists), such a policy implicitly places great emphasis on indigenous business. Unfortunately, however, the response of indigenous business men has often been disappointing and indigenous private investment has remained low. (The same is true of foreign entrepreneurs and their investment, but this is not our concern here.) In this situation, the governments of these countries have generally felt that it was neither economically desirable nor politically feasible to stand by and accept the unmodified verdict of the market, i.e. to accept a low rate of investment and thus of economic growth. Instead they have turned in varying degrees to two more activist policies. First, they have adopted a range of programmes designed to assist, foster, and nurture indigenous business. These programmes are essentially means of subsidizing business in order to increase the rate of private investment.2 Second, the governments themselves may have undertaken directly productive projects even though the commercial prospects may not have been sufficiently promising to induce profit-seeking investment. Both of these policies are based ultimately on the rationale that external economies and other divergences between the private and social effects of investment often cause the market to understate the net social benefits of capital accumulation, in other words, that the social marginal productivity of capital is positive
Why does hedge fund alpha decrease over time? Evidence from individual hedge funds

Why has the aggregate level of hedge fund alpha (risk-adjusted return) decreased over the last decade? By studying the distribution of individual hedge fund alphas, we find that the large right tail (funds with positive alphas) that was once present has shrunk over time, while the left tail (funds with negative alphas) has remained unchanged. Thus, the decrease in average alpha is not due to an increasing percentage of funds with unskilled managers and negative alphas, as suggested by the hedge fund bubble hypothesis. Instead, it is due to a decrease in the proportion of funds capable of producing large positive alphas. Our evidence is consistent with the prediction of the capacity constraint hypothesis. Using quantile regression and counter-factual density analysis, we show that a change in fund characteristics combined with a change in market conditions contributes to the decrease in the proportion of funds with positive alphas. Furthermore, we find that fund-level flow has a positive (negative) impact on a fund's future performance for smaller (larger) funds, while strategy-level flow (flow into the strategy to which a fund belongs) always has a negative impact on the fund's future performance. Our results suggest that the economic reasons for capacity constraints arise both from the "unscalability" of managers' abilities and from the limited profitable opportunities in the market.