cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Realities of environmental toxicity and their ramifications for community engagement

Research on community responses to environmental toxicity has richly described the struggles of citizens to identify unrecognized toxins, collect their own environmental health facts, and use them to lobby authorities for recognition and remediation. Much of this literature is based on an empiricist premise: it is concerned with exploring differences in how laypeople and experts perceive what is presumed to be a singular toxic reality that preexists these varying perspectives. Here, we seek to reexamine this topic by shifting the focus from facts to facticity-that is, by exploring the many types of knowledge that communities develop about toxicity and how these knowledges articulate with the ideas of scientific and governmental authorities about what kinds of information are valid bases for policymaking. In making this shift, we are influenced by work in semiotic anthropology and science and technology studies (STS), which emphasizes that lived experience generates distinct realities rather than different perceptions of the same underlying state. Using this framework, we present an analysis of oral history interviews conducted in 2013-14 in the small American town of Ambler, Pennsylvania. Part of Ambler's legacy as a nineteenth- and twentieth-century center of asbestos manufacture is that it is home to two massive asbestos-containing waste sites, one of which was being remediated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the time of this study. Our interviews demonstrate that even asbestos, a toxin with a well-established public narrative, is a fundamentally different object for different members of the Ambler community. For many of these individuals, the epistemology and practices of the EPA are incongruent with or tangential to their toxicity-related experiences and their consequent concerns for the future. As such, our findings suggest caution in framing the community engagement efforts of environmental health agencies primarily as facilitations of citizen science; this approach does not acknowledge the multiplicity of toxic realities.
Nickel silicide metallization for passivated tunneling contacts for silicon solar cells

Passivated tunneling contacts offer promise for applications in Interdigitated Back Passivated Contact (IBPC) high efficiency silicon solar cells. Metallization of these contacts remains a key research topic. This paper investigates NiSi/poly-Si/SiO 2 /c-Si passivated contacts using photoluminescence and contact resistivity measurements. An amorphous Si interlayer between the NiSi and poly-Si is observed to improve passivation, decreasing recombination. The overall recombination loss has a linear trend with the NiSi thickness. Implied V oc values close to 700 mV and contact resistivities below 10 mohm-cm2 have been achieved in NiSi/poly-Si:P/SiO 2 /c-Si contacts.
The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins

The title character in this book, the mushroom at the end of the world, is matsutake (‘pine-tree mushroom’), a Japanese delicacy. Many intertwined histories and ecologies feature in the study, whic...
The Development of a Glucose Dehydrogenase 3D-Printed Glucose Sensor: A Proof-of-Concept Study

This work represents a preliminary proof-of-concept design and verification of a 3D-printed glucose biosensor. The proof of concept presented is the first example of glucose dehydrogenase sensor fabricated by a 3D-printer while maintaining similar features to current lab-industry standards. The sensor was verified to detect physiological glucose concentrations between 0 and 400 mg/dL with a linear coefficient as high as .97. This study showed that it was possible to use 3D-printed technology to create a biosensor sensitive to glucose detection. As availability and functionality of 3D-printers expands, this technology has the potential to be an option for diabetes management. This preliminary study shows that the 3D-printed sensor platform holds promise for sensitive glucose detection.
Efficacy of antifouling modification of ultrafiltration membranes by grafting zwitterionic polymer brushes

Abstract We studied the efficacy of grafting zwitterionic polymer brushes for the antifouling modification of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) UF membranes were modified by surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) to graft poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA) brushes to the membrane surface. Protein adsorption tests and chemical force microscopy show that a large brush layer thickness (greater than 100 nm) is necessary in order to impart effective fouling resistance. In dynamic fouling experiments with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model foulant, however, the modified membranes exhibited only a slight increase of flux recovery after fouling compared to pristine PVDF membranes. Despite the thick PSBMA brush layer, this low water flux recovery indicates that internal fouling takes place within the membrane pores. To prevent internal fouling, we grafted PSBMA brushes to both the surface and internal structure of the membranes. Nevertheless, dynamic fouling experiments again showed only a minute improvement in water flux recovery. While a thick brush layer is required for effective fouling resistance, we note that the small pore size of UF membranes imposes a fundamental limit on the brush layer thickness inside the pores. Finally, we discuss the challenges of polymer brush grafting for antifouling UF membrane modification and suggest possible alternative methods to create fouling resistant UF membranes.
Student Veterans and the Transition to Higher Education: Integrating Existing Literatures

To address concerns about student veterans, including lagging BA attainment and troubling drop-out rates, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners would benefit from a more in-depth understanding of the processes student veterans undergo as they transition out of the military and into higher education. This paper synthesizes the literature related to the transition processes and post-secondary experiences of student veterans, nontraditional students, first-generation students, and under-represented minority students in order to identify points of convergence and divergence. These disparate literatures all recognize that the transition to higher education provides additional challenges, relative to the challenges faced by traditional students; however, over the past several decades a growing body of literature points to co-identity organizations – organizations that are centered around one aspect of a student’s identity – as one factor that has potential to ease adjustment to higher education. By integrating existing research focused on the groups of students noted above with the burgeoning literature on student veterans, future researchers can to conduct more informed research and policy-makers and administrators can be empowered to create more effective policies and programs.
Constellation design with geometric and probabilistic shaping

Abstract A systematic study, including theory, simulation and experiments, is carried out to review the generalized pairwise optimization algorithm for designing optimized constellation. In order to verify its effectiveness, the algorithm is applied in three testing cases: 2-dimensional 8 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), 4-dimensional set-partitioning QAM, and probabilistic-shaped (PS) 32QAM. The results suggest that geometric shaping can work together with PS to further bridge the gap toward the Shannon limit.
A Quantum Opto-plasmonic Capacitor for Low-power High-speed Information Processing

A quantum capacitor is described for low-power logic operations with ~9aJ/bit energy and fast photodetection based on “plasmorons,” unbounded by transport limitations. These are achieved by optoelectrical exploitation of quantum-exclusive energies of interacting 2D hole plasma.
Local Excision: Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery and Transanal Minimally Invasive Surgery

Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) and transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) are minimally invasive approaches developed to facilitate the local excision of rectal lesions, collectively known as transanal endoscopic surgery (TES). TEM was originally designed to perform submucosal or full-thickness local resection of rectal adenomas, but its application has since expanded to include the curative resection of carefully selected early-stage rectal cancer. In this chapter, current indications and contraindications for TES in the treatment of rectal cancer will be reviewed, in addition to patient selection, preoperative preparation, and perioperative considerations. Surgical techniques, tips and tricks, and pitfalls associated with TES will also be discussed, as well as the published outcomes of this approach with respect to morbidity, functional results, and short- and long-term oncologic outcomes relative to conventional radical resection with total mesorectal excision (TME). Finally, current obstacles to routine use and wider adoption of TES in the management of carefully selected rectal cancer cases will be addressed, including the challenges of procedural costs and training.
Singapore: The “Global City” in a Globalizing Arctic

Singapore’s Arctic interests are typically explained by its limited regional market and the government’s stakes in shipping, maritime infrastructure, and global governance. Yet the city-state’s pol...
Vitamin D deficiency and respiratory morbidity among African American very low birth weight infants.

Abstract Background Very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) have unexplained variation in respiratory morbidity, including respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We examined a potential association to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (s-25OHD) on day one. Study design Prospective, observational study on 89 VLBWI (≤1250 g). S-25OHD (day one and 21) and respiratory severity score (RSS) (day one) were examined. Other respiratory morbidities including BPD were compared between infants with s-25OHD ≤ 10 ng/ml (deficient) versus >10 ng/ml (adequate). Results Eighty one neonates (91%) were African Americans. The mean (SD) birthweight was 868 (229) g, gestational age 27 (2) weeks. On day one, mean (SD) s-25OHD was 15.48 (8.31) ng/ml, with 32 (37%) being vitamin D deficient. The deficiency and adequate VLBWI groups had similar birthweight; 860 (262) vs 873 (210) g, and gestational age; 27 (2) vs 27 (2) weeks. In 78 survivors, s-25OHD rose from 15.48 (8.31) ng/ml day one to 52.36 (22.49) ng/ml day 21 after supplementation, p Conclusion Lower levels of s-25OHD were associated with increased severity of RDS and BPD among a cohort of mostly African American VLBWI.
Adversarial Teacher-Student Learning for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation

The teacher-student (T/S) learning has been shown effective in unsupervised domain adaptation [1]. It is a form of transfer learning, not in terms of the transfer of recognition decisions, but the knowledge of posteriori probabilities in the source domain as evaluated by the teacher model. It learns to handle the speaker and environment variability inherent in and restricted to the speech signal in the target domain without proactively addressing the robustness to other likely conditions. Performance degradation may thus ensue. In this work, we advance T/S learning by proposing adversarial T/S learning to explicitly achieve condition-robust unsupervised domain adaptation. In this method, a student acoustic model and a condition classifier are jointly optimized to minimize the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the output distributions of the teacher and student models, and simultaneously, to min-maximize the condition classification loss. A condition-invariant deep feature is learned in the adapted student model through this procedure. We further propose multi-factorial adversarial T/S learning which suppresses condition variabilities caused by multiple factors simultaneously. Evaluated with the noisy CHiME-3 test set, the proposed methods achieve relative word error rate improvements of 44.60% and 5.38%, respectively, over a clean source model and a strong T/S learning baseline model.
Focused ultrasound induced opening of the blood-brain barrier disrupts inter-hemispheric resting state functional connectivity in the rat brain.

Abstract Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a technology capable of delivering therapeutic levels of energy through the intact skull to a tightly localized brain region. Combining the FUS pressure wave with intravenously injected microbubbles creates forces on blood vessel walls that open the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This noninvasive and localized opening of the BBB allows for targeted delivery of pharmacological agents into the brain for use in therapeutic development. It is possible to use FUS power levels such that the BBB is opened without damaging local tissues. However, open questions remain related to the effects that FUS-induced BBB opening has on brain function including local physiology and vascular hemodynamics. We evaluated the effects that FUS-induced BBB opening has on resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) metrics. Data from rs-fMRI was acquired in rats that underwent sham FUS BBB vs. FUS BBB opening targeted to the right primary somatosensory cortex hindlimb region (S1HL). FUS BBB opening reduced the functional connectivity between the right S1HL and other sensorimotor regions, including statistically significant reduction of connectivity to the homologous region in the left hemisphere (left S1HL). The effect was observed in all three metrics analyzed: functional connectivity between anatomically defined regions, whole brain voxel-wise correlation maps based on anatomical seeds, and spatial patterns from independent component analysis. Connectivity metrics for other regions where the BBB was not perturbed were not affected. While it is not clear whether the effect is vascular or neuronal in origin, these results suggest that even safe levels of FUS BBB opening have an effect on the physiological processes that drive the signals measured by BOLD fMRI. As such these effects must be accounted for when carrying out studies using fMRI to evaluate the effects of pharmacological agents delivered via FUS-induced BBB opening.
The Harish-Chandra Schwartz Space (HCS) and Anker’s Proof of Inversion

As we have already mentioned, Harish-Chandra first set up his inversion theorem on a space which he defined, as an analogue of the Schwartz space in ordinary Fourier analysis. Classically, such analysis takes place on the imaginary axis, with the Fourier kernel e ixy 2. Under the Fourier transform, C c ∞ goes to the Paley-Wiener space. As one considers functions which are less restricted than C c ∞ , the image space changes accordingly, and the Fourier transforms are not necessarily entire. At a pivotal stage, the Schwartz space is self-dual, with functions on the given euclidean space or its corresponding imaginary axis iav. This leads naturally into the L2-duality. The Fourier transform of functions in spaces between the Schwartz space and C c ∞ although not entire may have analytic continuation to a domain larger than the imaginary axis, namely tube domains, which provide an added structure to the situation.
Sovereign Bankruptcy: Why Now and Why Not in the IMF

As the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis that began in 2009 continues to run its course, leaving massive economic dislocation in its wake, and as NML Capital, Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, this Note discusses the timely and persistent problem of sovereign debt crises and the many impediments to their orderly resolution. This Note evaluates various proposals for dealing with sovereign debt– crisis resolution and concludes that a multilateral treaty–based sovereign bankruptcy regime, institutionally independent from the International Monetary Fund, offers the best solution. The status quo—messy, inefficient, and unpredictable ad hoc negotiations—has consistently proven inadequate. Ex ante contractual devices and piecemeal statutory fixes in domestic law offer at best incremental solutions that can do little to alter the fundamental problems with the present state of affairs. Just as domestic bankruptcy law complements the law of creditor remedies due to the shortcomings of the latter, so too should a system of international bankruptcy law complement the law of creditor remedies vis-a-vis sovereign debtors. This Note argues that, although this approach may be difficult to achieve, that does not justify abandoning it.
Age-related focal loss of contractile vascular smooth muscle cells in retinal arterioles is accelerated by caveolin-1 deficiency

Cerebral microcirculation is critical for the preservation of brain health, and vascular impairment is associated with age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Because the retina is a component of the central nervous system, cellular changes that occur in the aging retina are likely relevant to the aging brain, and the retina provides the advantage that the entire vascular bed is visible, en face. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that normal, healthy aging alters the contractile vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) coverage of retinal arterioles. We found that aging results in a significant reduction of contractile VSMCs in focal patches along arterioles. Focal loss of contractile VSMCs occurs at a younger age in mice deficient in the senescence-associated protein, caveolin-1. Age-related contractile VSMC loss is not exacerbated by genetic depletion of insulin-like growth factor-1. The patchy loss of contractile VSMCs provides a cellular explanation for previous clinical studies showing focal microirregularities in retinal arteriolar responsiveness in healthy aged human subjects and is likely to contribute to age-related retinal vascular complications.
Data mining as a key enabler of computational social science

Observation and analysis of a phenomenon at unprecedented levels of granularity not only furthers our understanding of it, but also transforms the way it is studied. For instance, invention of gene-sequencing and computational analysis transformed the life sciences, creating fields of inquiry such as genomics, proteomics, etc.; and the Hubble space telescope has furthered the ability of humanity to look much farther beyond what we could otherwise. With the mass adoption of the Internet in our daily lives, and the ability to capture high resolution data on its use, we are at the threshold of a fundamental shift not only in our understanding of the social and behavioral sciences (i.e. psychology, sociology, and economics), but also the ways in which we study them. Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and VirtualWorlds (VWs) have become increasingly popular and have communities comprising tens of millions. They serve as unprecedented tools to theorize and empirically model the social and behavioral dynamics of individuals, groups, and networks within large communities. The preceding observation has led to a number of multi-disciplinary projects, involving teams of behavioral scientists and computational scientists, working together to develop novel methods and tools to explore the current limits of behavioral sciences. This talk consists of four parts. First, we describe findings from the Virtual World Exploratorium; a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary project which uses data from commercial MMOGs and VWs to study many fields of social science, including sociology, social psychology, organization theory, group dynamics, macro-economics, etc. Results from investigations into various behavioral sciences will be presented. Second, we provide a survey of new approaches for behavioral informatics that are being developed by multi-disciplinary teams, and their successes. We will also introduce novel tools and techniques that are being used and/or developed as part of this research. Third, we will discuss some novel applications that are not yet there, but are just around the corner, and their associated research issues. Finally, we present commercial applications of Game Analytics research, based on our experiences with a startup company that we've created.
Clinical Strategies and Outcomes in Advanced Heart Failure Patients Older Than 70 Years of Age Receiving the HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist Device: A Community Hospital Experience

Objectives The primary objective of this study was to determine outcomes in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients older than age 70 years. Background Food and Drug Administration approval of the HeartMate II (Thoratec Corporation, Pleasanton, California) LVAD for destination therapy has provided an attractive option for older patients with advanced heart failure. Methods Fifty-five patients received the HeartMate II LVAD between October 5, 2005, and January 1, 2010, as part of either the bridge to transplantation or destination therapy trials at a community hospital. Patients were divided into 2 age groups: ≥70 years of age (n = 30) and Results Pre-operatively, all patients were in New York Heart Association functional class IV refractory to maximal medical therapy. Kaplan-Meier survival for patients ≥70 years of age (97% at 1 month, 75% at 1 year, and 70% at 2 years) was not statistically different from patients Conclusions The LVAD patients ≥70 years of age have good functional recovery, survival, and quality of life at 2 years. Advanced age should not be used as an independent contraindication when selecting a patient for LVAD therapy at experienced centers.
Bremsstrahlung energy spectra from electrons of kinetic energy 1 keV ≤ T1 ≤ 2000 keV incident on neutral atoms 2 ≤ Z ≤ 92

Abstract A tabulation is presented of theoretical predictions for the electron bremsstrahlung energy spectrum from neutral atoms as a function of atomic number Z, incident electron kinetic energy T1, and fraction of energy radiated k T 1 . Tabulated values were obtained by interpolation from a smaller set of calculated data points. These calculated points were obtained by describing bremsstrahlung as a single-electron transition in a relativistic self-consistent screened potential and, after expansions in partial waves, by performing a numerical evaluation for radial wavefunctions and matrix elements.
Modulators of “Activated Motivation”: Event-Specific Condom Use by Drug Injectors Who Have Used Condoms to Prevent HIV/AIDS

Since sexual transmission of HIV among and from drug injectors is a frequent source of infection, condom use by them is important for prevention. This paper focuses on predictors of condom use at last sex by drug injectors with “activated motivation,” that is, by those who already are trying to use condoms to reduce HIV risk. Principal subjects are 1,240 drug injectors who report activated motivation to use condoms to prevent HIV and who had had sex within 6 months before the interview. Many used condoms at last sexual event with primary partners (65%) and with casual partners (80%). Condom use with primary partners increased over time, and was higher among those who knew they were HIV-positive or who talked about AIDS with sexual partners, but was lower among those who knew they were HIV-negative, who were Black, Hispanic, women, younger, or high school graduates, or who used crack with their partners at the sexual event. Condom use with casual partners was lower among women, older drug injectors, and those who were high on alcohol along with their partners, and tended to be more likely among those who know they are infected. Condom use with both primary and casual partners was greater with partners who did not themselves inject drugs. Programs should urge drug injectors who are trying to use condoms to avoid HIV transmission that having sex while using psychoactive substances may be a barrier to their doing so even if they want to use condoms and have done so in the past. Finally, research should be conducted to determine if persons with activated motivation should receive HIV prevention assistance that is different from that offered those who lack risk-reduction motivation or those who want to reduce their risk behaviors, but have been unable to implement the desired changes.
Missing the Target? Using Surveys to Validate Social Media Ad Targeting

Facebook ads are increasingly used by political scientists as a method of survey recruitment. A key advantage is said to be the ability to recruit targeted audiences defined by demographics, political beliefs, location, and numerous other attributes. The same feature has been decried by non-researchers concerned about potential racial discrimination and foreign influence in elections. The extent to which these ads actually reach their targets, however, is unknown. Using a series of six surveys and 20 targeted ads, I show these ads regularly fail to reach their targets. The success rate ranges from 23 to 99 percent, and ads targeted toward groups defined by self-reported data and broader geographic locations are generally more successful.
China, Hegemony, and Leadership in East Asia

Is China today a “rising great power,” destined to behave like rising European powers of the past, such as Wilhelmine Germany or Napoleonic France? Are China and the East Asia region something unique, and should they be taken on their own terms? Or are there other theoretical approaches that might help us explain and contextualize contemporary East Asia? China’s recent economic and diplomatic dynamism has prompted tremendous speculation about regional and global implications. In academic and policymaking circles, this debate coheres around the question of whether or not East Asia will devolve into a great game of balance of power politics similar to that experienced in Europe. However, although China may be unlikely to follow the path that did European great power aspirants, that clearly does not mean that East Asia as a region is sui generis, and taking East Asia on its own terms rather than as a reflection of Europe does not mean arguing for a unique and unchanging East Asia.
Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System Dispositional Tool (OYAS-DIS): An Examination of Race and Gender Differences:

The Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition Tool (OYAS-DIS) is a juvenile risk assessment that is used in numerous states and jurisdictions to assess criminogenic risk of juvenile offenders. Still...
Interpretation and Utility of Drug of Abuse Screening Immunoassays: Insights From Laboratory Drug Testing Proficiency Surveys

Context.— Urine drug testing is frequently ordered by health care providers. Immunoassays are widely used for drug testing, yet have potential limitations, including variable cross-reactivity. The ...
Deep Learning of Static and Dynamic Brain Functional Networks for Early MCI Detection

While convolutional neural network (CNN) has been demonstrating powerful ability to learn hierarchical spatial features from medical images, it is still difficult to apply it directly to resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and the derived brain functional networks (BFNs). We propose a novel CNN framework to simultaneously learn embedded features from BFNs for brain disease diagnosis. Since BFNs can be built by considering both static and dynamic functional connectivity (FC), we first decompose rs-fMRI into multiple static BFNs with modified independent component analysis. Then, the voxel-wise variability in dynamic FC is used to quantify BFN dynamics. A set of paired 3D images representing static/dynamic BFNs can be fed into 3D CNNs, from which we can hierarchically and simultaneously learn static/dynamic BFN features. As a result, the dynamic BFN features can complement static BFN features and, at the meantime, different BFNs can help each other toward a joint and better classification. We validate our method with a publicly accessible, large cohort of rs-fMRI dataset in early-stage mild cognitive impairment (eMCI) diagnosis, which is one of the most challenging problems to the clinicians. By comparing with a conventional method, our method shows significant diagnostic performance improvement by almost 10%. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of deep learning in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, based on the complex and high-dimensional voxel-wise spatiotemporal patterns of the resting-state brain functional connectomics. The framework provides a new but intuitive way to fully exploit deeply embedded diagnostic features from rs-fMRI for a better-individualized diagnosis of various neurological diseases.
Unusual cutaneous metastatic carcinoma.

Abstract Most of metastatic tumors to the skin are from primary tumors of the breast, lung, or from melanoma; metastases to the skin from primary carcinomas at other sites are rare. Cutaneous metastases of visceral carcinomas most often occur in patients with advanced disease, and are associated with a poor prognosis. We report 6 cases of nonmammary, nonpulmonary carcinoma metastatic to the skin. Most patients were elderly with advanced disease at the time of diagnosis of skin metastasis. The primary tumor sites included the thyroid, esophagus, biliary tract, ovary, and prostate. Awareness of these rare cases of metastasis to the skin will help pathologists and clinicians make the correct diagnosis.
G392(P) Aortic dissection: still a great mimicker

Introduction Albeit rare, paediatric aortic dissection is a life-threatening abnormality which occurs especially in children with congenital heart disease, and connective tissue disorders. Atypical presentation of aortic dissection hampers timely diagnosis and appropriate surgical treatment, particularly if the patient has no characteristic pain. Herein we report the case of a teenager with an aortic dissection and a poor outcome. Methods Case Report Case Report Our patient was a 12 year old girl who was brought into the paediatric emergency unit for evaluation of 1 day history of vomiting with intermittent chest and abdominal pain. Apart from mild learning difficulty, and an un-investigated easy bruising, her past medical history was not contributory likewise her family history. On admission she was tachycardic and was hypotensive. Systemic examination was only significant for mildly reduced air entry on the right. Her abdomen was soft and non-tender. She had fluid resuscitation, analgesia, and intravenous antibiotics with good effects. She was stable within a few hours of admission before she suddenly collapsed requiring extensive resuscitation. Her CXR showed right sided moderate pulmonary effusion. Her ECG was unremarkable. Chest and abdominal USS was requested but she died prior to having the USS. A post-mortem examination revealed thoracic and abdominal aortic dissection, possibly related to a genetic cause or a connective tissue disease. This is currently being investigated. Conclusion Aortic dissection presents in protean ways mimicking other diagnoses. Suffice to say that not all aortic dissections have the classic presentation of severe chest pain of abrupt onset radiating to the back. Strategies to reduce risk and improve patient outcomes include staff education on various presentations and risk factors, swift accessibility of diagnostic testing modalities, and a solid practice for emergent and timely transfers to suitable surgical centres.
Probiotic powders prepared by mixing suspension of Lactobacillus salivarius NRRL B-30514 and spray-dried lactose: Physical and microbiological properties.

Abstract Preparation of powdered probiotics is important for storage and application. In this work, a novel method to prepare powdered probiotic ingredients was studied by mixing a Lactobacillus salivarius NRRL B-30514 suspension with amorphous spray-dried lactose at suspension: lactose (v:w) ratios (SLR) of 1:5, 1:15, and 1:25. The simple procedure resulted in lactose-probiotics powders (LPPs) with greater probiotic viability initially and during subsequent 6-month storage at a smaller SLR. In LPPs with SLRs of 1:5 and 1:15, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy results indicated the formation of lactose crystals, and BacLight® assay suggested the significantly lowered membrane integrity of probiotics due to hypertonic pressure of lactose dissolved in excessive water. A viable but non-culturable state of L. salivarius in LPPs may exist based on the BacLight® and CTC reduction assays. The present study may provide a novel approach to prepare powdered probiotic ingredients.
Nurses striving to provide caregiver with excellent support and care at a distance: a qualitative study.

In Norway, changes in life expectancy have led to increased attention to older people who are ageing at home, by means of home care services, adapted technology and informal caregivers. The caring situation has become difficult for many caregivers. The use of telecare has now offered them the possibility to receive support at home. The purpose of this study was to explore how nurses provide support and care at a distance, using a web camera and a web forum in a closed telecare network for caregivers to persons suffering from stroke and dementia. The study had an explorative design with a qualitative approach. The data sources consisted of interviews with nurses and excerpts from posts in a closed telecare network. Content analysis was used to analyse the text from the interviews and the text from the web forum. The main theme, “Balancing asymmetric and symmetric relationships” described nurses’ relationship with caregiver. Two categories, “Balancing personal and professional qualities” and “Balancing caregivers’ dependence versus independence” were identified. The first describing the tension in their dialogue, the second describing how nurses provided the caregivers with a sense of security as well as strengthening them to master their daily lives. The nurses provided long distance support and care for the caregivers, by using computer-meditated communication. This communication was characterized by closeness as well as empathy. To strengthen the caregivers’ competence and independence, the nurses were easy accessible and provided virtual supervision and support. This study increases the knowledge about online dialogues and relationship between nurses and caregivers. It contributes to knowledge about balancing in the relationship, as well as knowledge about bridging the gap between technologies and nursing care as potential conflicting dimensions. Maintenance of ethical principles are therefore critical to be aware of.
Non-invasive Risk Stratification in Pediatric Ventricular Pre-excitation

Children with ventricular pre-excitation are at risk for sudden death. This retrospective pediatric study identified patients > 8 years of age who had undergone electrophysiology study (EPS). Our primary objective was to determine the performance characteristics of non-invasive risk stratification. Subjects were separated into two groups. Group 1 was asymptomatic or had non-specific symptoms (palpitations, chest pain, and light headedness) without documented supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Group 2 had syncope, documented SVT, or a life-threatening event. As a secondary aim, we tested whether patients with severe symptoms had a shorter time from the date of diagnosis to the date of invasive risk stratification. Among 93 patients with an average age of 14.2 years, 25 patients had documented SVT, 6 had syncope, and 1 had a life-threatening event. The sensitivity of non-invasive risk stratification was 7%. The specificity was 91%. The positive predictive valve was 14% and the negative predictive value was 84%. Even patients with severe symptoms commonly underwent non-invasive risk stratification prior to EPS, albeit at a lower rate (Group 1, 98%; Group 2 84%, p = 0.02). The median time to EPS was 4.2 months (Group 1) and 4.5 months (Group 2, p = 0.63). Non-invasive risk stratification was a poor predictor of invasive risk stratification. Cardiologists should counsel families about the limitations of non-invasive risk stratification and consider starting with invasive risk stratification and possible ablation. Counterintuitively, severe symptoms were not associated with a shorter time to electrophysiology study.
Impact of nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine exposure on germline integrity and epigenome

Converging evidence suggests that parental exposure to drugs of abuse can affect offspring phenotypes. The impacts of drug abuse on germ cell quality may mediate multigenerational and transgenerational inheritance, although biological pathways underlying this mode of inheritance are not yet characterized. Germline epigenetic marks are modified by drug exposure and have emerged as promising mechanistic candidates in recent work. Drug exposure also impacts overall germline integrity and reproductive functioning, although the role of these consequences in multi/transgenerational inheritance is unclear. This review synthesizes literature on effects of exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and nicotine on the germline with a focus on epigenetic modifications following drug exposure and broader impacts on germline integrity and reproductive functioning. We discuss potential interactions between reproductive functioning, germline integrity, and germline epigenome/transcriptome in pathways underlying multi/transgenerational inheritance. We find that existing data may support independent or interactive contributions of these germline impacts on offspring phenotypes in a manner that may mediate multi/transgenerational inheritance.
A Spatial Analysis of the Food Environment and Overweight and Obesity Among Rhode Island Youth.

Background This study examined how proximity to food sources differed at the block group and town level, stratified by socioeconomic risk, and how the average distance to a food source was associated with child overweight and obesity rates in Rhode Island. Methods Eight correlated variables from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey were used to measure high and low socioeconomic risk at the block group and town level. Linear regression models were used to assess the association between mean driving distance to food sources and prevalence of child overweight and obesity. Results All food sources were closer to residences in the high-risk group than the low-risk group at the block group and town level. Convenience stores, sit-down restaurants, and snack and beverage stores showed the largest associations with prevalence of overweight and obesity. Conclusion Efforts to better understand the food environment are needed to address overweight and obesity among youth.
Depressive symptoms predict low physical performance among older Mexican Americans.

Depressive symptoms are common in older adults and predict functional dependency. To examine the ability of depressive symptoms to predict low physical performance over 20 years of follow-up among older Mexican Americans who scored moderate to high in the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) test and were non-disabled at baseline. Data were from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly. Our sample included 1545 community-dwelling Mexican American men and women aged 65 and older. Measures included socio-demographics, depressive symptoms, SPPB, handgrip strength, activities of daily living, body mass index (BMI), mini-mental state examination, and self-reports of various medical conditions. General Equation Estimation was used to estimate the odds ratio of developing low physical performance over time as a function of depressive symptoms. The mean SPPB score at baseline was 8.6 ± 1.4 for those with depressive symptoms and 9.1 ± 1.4 for those without depressive symptoms. The odds ratio of developing low physical performance over time was 1.53 (95% Confidence Interval = 1.27–1.84) for those with depressive symptoms compared with those without depressive symptoms, after controlling for all covariates. Depressive symptoms were a predictor of low physical performance in older Mexican Americans over a 20-year follow-up period. Interventions aimed at preventing decline in physical performance in older adults should address management of their depressive symptoms.
Twenty-First-Century Chinese-African Hydropower Projects in Perspective

This chapter discusses the historical shifts and underlying drivers behind the rise of twenty-first-century Chinese-African hydropower development. It locates the basis of these shifts in changes in financing regimes for hydropower projects in Africa; host country governments have pivoted away from dwindling traditional OECD and multilateral development sources of finance and towards new alternative sources of Chinese state-owned commercial lending. The varied hydro-historical trajectories of Uganda, Ghana, and Ethiopia are compared here through an analysis of select project cases in order to demonstrate how and why different contexts have converged on similar outcomes in pivoting to Chinese partnership arrangements. The three cases, respectively, represent private sector, multilateral, and state-led approaches to African dam development which have each ended up resorting to coordinated bilateral Chinese financing mechanisms to provide solutions to rising energy demand and domestic resource constraints. This chapter concludes with common risks and challenges faced by African cases in various contexts.
Thermomechanical fatigue resistance of low temperature solder for multiwire interconnects in photovoltaic modules

Abstract Novel interconnect technologies leveraging low melting temperature solders, such as multiwire interconnects, are being deployed in photovoltaic (PV) modules for improved reliability through interconnect redundancy and lower thermal loads during interconnection and lamination. However, the equivalency of standardized accelerated testing to field conditions has not yet been established for these emerging technologies. In this study, the thermomechanical fatigue resistance of low temperature solder alloys is investigated and compared to that of conventional SnPb to assess the acceleration behavior of these alloys. While InSn is shown to have sufficient thermomechanical fatigue resistance on the order of that of SnPb, these results indicate Sn–Bi alloys may have poor thermomechanical fatigue resistance at field conditions. The results also show that Sn–Bi alloys have thermal cycling acceleration factors of less than one. This indicates that the standardized accelerated thermal cycling test, such as that in IEC 61215, will produce misleading results for Sn–Bi alloys and that unique testing is required for this PV module architecture. Though accelerated thermal cycling may be a meaningful qualification test for SnPb solder joints, these results suggest that mechanical loading may be a more appropriate test for Sn–Bi multiwire interconnects. This is due to the distinct processing and geometry of multiwire interconnects which may allow for mechanical, rather than strictly metallurgical interconnections.
Critical content analysis: a methodological proposal for the incorporation of numerical data into critical/cultural media studies

This paper introduces a methodological approach building on advances in mixed-methods communication research to facilitate the integration of quantitative data into qualitative textual analysis. Th...
The social welfare function in policy analysis

This chapter presents a discussion on the social welfare function in policy analysis. The chapter focuses on the applications that are in the spirit of the “New, New Welfare Economics,” which employs flexible-form social welfare functions to highlight how ethical judgments ranging from the utilitarian to Rawlsian can instruct public policy. Because the analysis is first-best, the applications generally focus on the question of distributive justice without worrying about the inefficiencies that actual redistribution of income give rise to. It is also assumed that the pareto-optimal conditions are satisfied, unless specifically stated. The chapter describes the Atkinson social welfare and the distribution of income framework. Atkinson's desire to meld social welfare and the income data led him to specify the social welfare function in terms of income. Atkinson sought a very simple specification of W —one that could easily be applied to the income data and yet would capture the full range of ethical judgments from the utilitarian to Rawlsian. He achieved this with three highly simplified and heroic assumptions: the social welfare function is utilitarian, everyone has identical tastes, and utility exhibits diminishing private marginal utility of income. Atkinson's assumptions were widely adopted in applied social welfare analysis.
Mechanisms involved in ornithine decarboxylase induction by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, a potent mouse skin tumor promoter and an activator of protein kinase C.

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) which decarboxylates ornithine to form putrescine, is the key enzyme in mammalian polyamine biosynthesis. ODC is characterized by its inducibility and rapid turnover rate (half life∼15 min). ODC activity in quiescent cells is extremely low and is increased within a few hours in response to many different stimuli, including hormones, growth factors, and tumor promoters. In general the induction of ODC activity and subsequent accumulation of putrescine constitute a part of a cascade of biochemical events that accompany cell proliferation and differentiation (1, 2).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease: A Clinical Review

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. It is generally defined by its progressive motor features; but increased attention is being paid to its non-motor neuropsychiatric symptoms, which profoundly impact quality of life for patients and caregivers. Anxiety and depression are particularly problematic and are the strongest predictors of quality of life in PD. Recent research has focused on non-pharmacological approaches to treating depression and anxiety in patients with PD. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a potentially efficacious non-pharmacological treatment for mood and anxiety symptoms associated with PD. Accordingly, this review examines empirical studies of CBT-based treatments for depression and anxiety symptoms in PD. Medical Subject Headings were used in searches of PsychInfo and PubMed of English-language articles published in peer-reviewed journals, resulting in the identification of 10 articles. Four additional articles were identified from the references of these articles and upon the suggestions of experts, for 15 articles in all. Results of individual studies varied significantly; however, the randomized controlled trials showed encouraging results and support the need for further investigation of the utility of CBT for depressed and anxious patients with PD. CBT is potentially a useful treatment for patients with PD and comorbid depression and/or anxiety, but more systematic research will be necessary to measure its effects.
Tomato carotenoid prevention of UVR-induced damage in human keratinocyte cell lines (645.9)

Our objective was to determine the potential of tomato carotenoids: lycopene, beta-carotene, and lutein to protect against ultraviolet radiation (URV) in two normal human keratinocyte cell lines; HaCaT and NHEK. Both skin cell lines were treated with each carotenoid individually, lycopene + beta-carotene, lycopene + lutein, lutein + beta-carotene, and all three for a period of 24 hours at dose levels within the ranges seen in human serum. Full-spectrum UVR (21,700 μW/cm2 UV B-100 series lamp; Fisher Scientific) was then applied to tissue culture flasks for 20 minutes. HPLC was performed to quantify extent of carotenoid uptake and metabolism. DNA damage was measured using the Comet assay, lipid peroxidation byproducts were measured using the TBARS assay, and inflammation was measured using ELISA kits for TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10. Results from this study show the potential of carotenoids to protect human keratinocytes against full spectrum UVR damage and cancer-induction.