cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Semester-Long Project for Teaching Basic Techniques in Molecular Biology Such as Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis to Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Several reports on science education suggest that students at all levels learn better if they are immersed in a project that is long term, yielding results that require analysis and interpretation. I describe a 12-wk laboratory project suitable for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students, in which the students molecularly locate and map a gene from Drosophila melanogaster called dusky and one of dusky's mutant alleles. The mapping strategy uses restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis; hence, students perform most of the basic techniques of molecular biology (DNA isolation, restriction enzyme digestion and mapping, plasmid vector subcloning, agarose and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, DNA labeling, and Southern hybridization) toward the single goal of characterizing dusky and the mutant allele dusky(73). Students work as individuals, pairs, or in groups of up to four students. Some exercises require multitasking and collaboration between groups. Finally, results from everyone in the class are required for the final analysis. Results of pre- and postquizzes and surveys indicate that student knowledge of appropriate topics and skills increased significantly, students felt more confident in the laboratory, and students found the laboratory project interesting and challenging. Former students report that the lab was useful in their careers.
Fungal endophytes directly increase the competitive effects of an invasive forb

Competitive outcomes among plants can vary in different abiotic and biotic conditions. Here we tested the effects of two phylotypes of Alternaria endophytes on the growth, competitive effects, and competitive responses of the exotic invasive forb Centaurea stoebe. Centaurea stoebe was a better competitor against North American grass species than grasses from its European home range in the absence of endophytes. However, one endophyte both increased the biomass of C. stoebe and reduced the competitive effect of North American grasses on C. stoebe. The competitive effects of C. stoebe on grass species native to North America were enhanced by both fungal endophytes, but not for native European grasses. We do not know the mechanism by which endophytes increased C. stoebe's competitive ability, and particularly against biogeographically new neighbors, but one endophyte increased the competitive ability of C. stoebe without increasing its size, suggesting mechanisms unrelated to increased growth. We tested only a fraction of the different endophytic fungi that have been found in C. stoebe, only scratching the surface of understanding their indirect effects. However, our results are the first to demonstrate such effects of a fungal endophyte infecting an invasive forb, and one of the few to show that endophyte effects on competition do not have to be mediated through herbivory.
Performance of a packet switch with crossbar architecture

A packet having a crossbar architecture with M inputs and N outputs is considered. Following earlier work, the theoretical capacity of such a switch is found in terms of the throughput of a closed queueing network. A state-dependent server model that approximates the rate at which the switch is transferring packets as a function of the work backlog (the number of packets queued at the switch inputs) is then developed. In this way, the model reflects the fact that such a switch tends to function more efficiently as the work backlog increases. This model yields an accurate method for approximating the entire distribution of the work backlog, as well as mean queue lengths and waiting times. >
Effect of BLUP prediction on genomic selection: practical considerations to achieve greater accuracy in genomic selection

Background Prediction of breeding values (BV) using only genotypic information is the final goal of Genomic Selection (GS) [1]. Commonly, BV prediction from traditional BLUP analysis is the input for constructing GS prediction models, and GS predicted BVs are correlated with traditional BLUP BVs to estimate the accuracy of GS models. The use of GS in plant breeding depends on the accuracy of the GS models to predict the BVs. Therefore, better accuracy and less bias in traditional BLUP BVs should improve the final accuracy of GS predictions. Such improvements in GS predictions are not due to GS modeling itself, but rather to the reduced noise in the BLUP BV used as input. Improvements in BLUP BV can be obtained simply by correcting errors in the pedigree [2] or using more complex approaches, such as applying a realized relationship matrix (RRM) in the BLUP prediction as an alternative to the relationship matrix (A) based on expected values derived from the pedigree [3]. Misspecification of effects in BLUP models tends to produce upward bias in the BV estimates, which also impact GS accuracy [4]. In addition, not correcting with the additive-genetic relationship information in the GS prediction model leads to overestimates in accuracies due to inadequate accounting for confounding genetic relationships found in the training population [5]. The inflated accuracy cannot be exploited in future generations and should be guarded against. Our objective was to use real data to study the effect on the GS accuracy from 1) pedigree errors, 2) incorporation of the RRM in the BLUP analysis, 3) misspecification of non-additive effects in the BLUP analysis and 4) the effect of ignoring the additive-genetic relationship in the GS prediction model.
Pesticide use and risk of end-stage renal disease among licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

Objectives Experimental studies suggest a relationship between pesticide exposure and renal impairment, but epidemiological evidence is limited. We evaluated the association between exposure to 39 specific pesticides and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) incidence in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina. Methods Via linkage to the US Renal Data System, we identified 320 ESRD cases diagnosed between enrolment (1993–1997) and December 2011 among 55 580 male licensed pesticide applicators. Participants provided information on use of pesticides via self-administered questionnaires. Lifetime pesticide use was defined as the product of duration and frequency of use and then modified by an intensity factor to account for differences in pesticide application practices. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for age and state, were used to estimate associations between ESRD and: (1) ordinal categories of intensity-weighted lifetime use of 39 pesticides, (2) poisoning and high-level pesticide exposures and (3) pesticide exposure resulting in a medical visit or hospitalisation. Results Positive exposure-response trends were observed for the herbicides alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor, paraquat, and pendimethalin, and the insecticide permethrin. More than one medical visit due to pesticide use (HR=2.13; 95% CI 1.17 to 3.89) and hospitalisation due to pesticide use (HR=3.05; 95% CI 1.67 to 5.58) were significantly associated with ESRD. Conclusions Our findings support an association between ESRD and chronic exposure to specific pesticides, and suggest pesticide exposures resulting in medical visits may increase the risk of ESRD. Clinical trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00352924.
Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II Parent Form, Ages 5–21

Abstract The AAIDD has promulgated various models of adaptive behavior, including its 1992 model stressing 10 adaptive skills and its 2002 model that highlighted three conceptual domains. In previous studies on the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II (ABAS-II), researchers found support for a model including both 10 adaptive skills and three conceptual domains. To extend this review, we examined gender-invariant structure of adaptive behavior using the ABAS-II Parent Form, Ages 5–21, to answer four questions: Do the skill areas in this measure display the same pattern of factor loadings and the same factor loadings? Are intercepts of the observed skill areas equal? Do skill areas measure the corresponding factors with the same accuracy? Results show a similar one-factor structure for males and females.
Using hardware transactional memory for data race detection

Widespread emergence of multicore processors will spur development of parallel applications, exposing programmers to degrees of hardware concurrency hitherto unavailable. Dependable multithreaded software will have to rely on the ability to dynamically detect non-deterministic and notoriously hard to reproduce synchronization bugs manifested through data races. Previous solutions to dynamic data race detection have required specialized hardware, at additional power, design and area costs. We propose RaceTM, a novel approach to data race detection that exploits hardware that will likely be present in future multiprocessors, albeit for a different purpose. In particular, we show how emerging hardware support for transactional memory can be leveraged to aid data race detection. We propose the concept of lightweight debug transactions that exploit the conflict detection mechanisms of transactional memory systems to perform data race detection. We present a proof-of-concept simulation prototype, and evaluate it on data races injected into applications from the SPLASH-2 suite. Our experiments show that this technique is effective at discovering data races and has low performance overhead.
The Ontogeny of Social Information Gathering

When facing the unknown, humans tend to consult others for guidance. This propensity to treat others as information sources has wide-ranging implications, being in part responsible for the breadth and depth of our world knowledge. As yet, little is known concerning when and how young children acquire this important skill. Social referencing and communicative abilities in infancy have been interpreted by many as reflecting precocious social information-seeking ability, but the evidence is far from compelling and equally compatible with an attachment regulation interpretation. While the evidence indicates that infants as young as 12 months are good consumers of social information, it falls well short of demonstrating that they are active seekers of that information. Moreover, genuine social information seeking requires an implicit conception of the knowledge-ignorance distinction, and existing research on children's theories of mind suggests that such a conception is most likely not available in infancy. For these reasons, we argue for a developmental account of social information-gathering ability, one that is consistent with the larger body of evidence concerning sociocognitive abilities in infants and young children.
High-temperature behavior of indent and creep-nucleated cracks in vitreous-bonded alumina

Crack behavior was studied at elevated temperatures in a commercial vitreous-bonded alumina for two types of cracks : one introduced by indentation at room temperature and the other by the creep process. Indentation cracks with relatively small initial size grew progressively longer during creep before they became blunt and arrested ; however, they continued to widen throughout the creep process. Larger indentation cracks under high stress condition continued to grow until failure. The evolution of creep-nucleated cracks was so fast that they were observed only in their arrested state. Once observed, their length remained essentially constant, but they did grow in width. The crack-opening displacement rates of both types of cracks were linearly related to the creep rate as predicted by fracture mechanics for stationary cracks. All but the specimens with the largest indentation crack exhibited flaw tolerance in that they failed by the coalescence of creep-nucleated cracks instead of the growth of a single crack. The results illustrate the crack behavior in the brittle-to-ductile transition regime for ceramics that deform by grain boundary sliding.
A population-based twin study in women of smoking initiation and nicotine dependence.

Background The development of drug dependence requires prior initiation. What is the relationship between the risk factors for initiation and dependence? Methods Using smoking as a model addiction, we assessed smoking initiation (SI) and nicotine dependence (ND) by personal interview in 1898 female twins from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. We developed a twin structural equation model that estimates the correlation between the liability to SI and the liability to ND, given SI. Results The liabilities to SI and ND were substantially correlated but not identical. Heritable factors played an important aetiological role in SI and in ND. While the majority of genetic risk factors for ND were shared with SI, a distinct set of familial factors, which were probably partly genetic, solely influenced the risk for ND. SI was associated with low levels of education and religiosity, high levels of neuroticism and extroversion and a history of a wide range of psychiatric disorders. ND was associated with low levels of education, extroversion, mastery, and self-esteem, high levels of neuroticism and dependency and a history of mood and alcohol use disorders. Conclusions The aetiological factors that influence SI and ND, while overlapping, are not perfectly correlated. One set of genetic factors plays a significant aetiological role in both SI and ND, while another set of familial factors, probably in part genetic, solely influences ND. Some risk factors for SI and ND impact similarly on both stages, some act at only one stage and others impact differently and even in opposite directions at the two stages. The pathway to substance dependence is complex and involves multiple genetic and environmental risk factors.
A pilot study of use-dependent learning in the context of Constraint Induced Language Therapy.

This investigation reports the results of a pilot study concerning the application of principles of use-dependent learning developed in the motor rehabilitation literature as Constraint Induced Therapy to language rehabilitation in a group of individuals with chronic aphasia. We compared treatment that required forced use of the language modality, Constraint Induced Language Therapy, (CILT) to treatment allowing all modes of communication. Both treatments were administrated intensively in a massed practice paradigm, using the same therapeutic stimuli and tasks. Results suggest that whereas both interventions yielded positive outcomes, CILT participants showed more consistent improvement on standard aphasia measures and clinician judgments of narrative discourse. These findings suggest that CILT intervention may be a viable approach to aphasia rehabilitation. (JINS, 2006, 12, 843–852.)
The Physical Hazards of Police Work Revisited

This study examines the extent to which injuries to police officers have changed from 1996-1998 to 2006-2008. Data were obtained from injury reports filed by sworn officers of the Milwaukee (Wiscon...
THE ARCHIVAL ANATOMY OF A DISASTER: MEDIA COVERAGE AND COMMUNITY-WIDE HEALTH EFFECTS OF THE TEXAS A&M BONFIRE TRAGEDY

A community-wide trauma leaves its mark on all aspects of the community. Following the death of 12 Texas A&M students who died as part of an annual bonfire ritual, linguistic analyses of student newspapers and changes in student health center visits were analyzed at both Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin. Newspaper reports in the first days after the accident were rich in emotional content and reflect an increase in both self- and collective focus. The coverage of the disaster decreased sharply in the weeks after the accident, became shorter on average, and grew distanced and intellectualized. Compared to news coverage from the University of Texas, the Texas A&M newspaper evidenced lower levels of negative emotions and death-related themes. Consistent with a social stages of coping model, the linguistic shifts covaried with increased rates of illness. However, within two months of the accident, the health of A&M students increased dramatically compared to levels prior to the accident. Implications for the social stages of coping in newsprint and for the collective health in a unique community are discussed.
Critical response: Why we need “myths”

(1987). Critical response: Why we need “myths”. Critical Studies in Mass Communication: Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 412-415.
Photovoltaic response of natural Kesterite crystals

Abstract The photoelectrochemical performance of naturally occurring single and multicrystalline Kesterite or Cu2(Zn,Fe)SnS4 (CZTS) is presented. Elemental analyses of the crystals indicate high sulfur to metal atomic ratios and the presence of 12.3–14.5 at% of iron presumably in the 2+ metal site replacing zinc in the lattice. Raman spectroscopy indicates the possible presence of a Cu2SnS3 impurity phase. Photocurrent spectroscopy measurements give a bandgap of 1.61–1.63 eV, higher than most reported values for pure Cu2ZnSnS4 films. Mott–Schottky measurements show that these crystals have a high doping density of about 1019 cm−3, that reduces to about 1017 cm−3 after a brief etch in 10% KCN (aq.) solution. Although still low, the carrier diffusion length is increased by the removal of surface defects. This work demonstrates the ability to simply and easily evaluate the photovoltaic potential for a plethora of naturally occurring semiconducting materials.
An architecture for dynamic service-oriented computing in networked embedded systems

Software development in real-time and embedded systems has traditionally focused on stand-alone applications with static models for scheduling and resource allocation. Our goal is to facilitate the development of embedded applications in an open system, where tasks and resources arrive and leave dynamically, and their execution is concurrent. We model such applications as a dynamic composition of network services. This paper presents an enabling framework for dynamic service orchestration in cyber-physical systems, based on a modular, reusable, and extensible service-oriented architecture. By taking advantage of a network-wide programming model, adaptive global resource management, and late binding of tasks to resources, the architecture enables execution of dynamic embedded application workloads in a resource-efficient manner.
The role of nicotine as a determinant of cigarette smoking frequency in man with observations of certain cardiovascular effects associated with the tobacco alkaloid

The effect of intravenously administered nicotine upon smoking behavior was studied in smokers who were unaware of the nature of the administered drug and the true purpose of the study. Smoking behavior was not altered significantly when nicotine was administered in a dose of 1 mg. per hour for 6 hours. A significant decrease in smoking frequency was obtained when nicotine was administered at the rate of 2 to 4 mg. per hour. Recordings of systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and the elect1"Ocardiogram indicate that the physiological alterations in these parameters produced by smoking can be reproduced by parenteral nicotine.
An 11-year ecological study of a rare prairie perennial (Asclepias meadii): implications for monitoring and management.

Abstract Mead's milkweed, Asclepias meadii, is a rare long-lived perennial of North American tallgrass prairies. Stems of this clonal species are spatially aggregated and, therefore, observing survivorship and flowering of “patches” of stems best approximates the fate of genetic individuals. Population size is likely to be underestimated because more than one genotype can sometimes occur in a patch. The number of patches detected at a site in Kansas has greatly increased over the last 11 y since marking locations of individual patches allowed detection of nonflowering stems in subsequent years. The A. meadii population at our site (managed by biennial dormant-season burning) often had more flowering ramets and produced more mature follicles in years with burning. High rainfall in the preceding year, in conjunction with burning, was associated with the highest follicle production. The difficulties in detection of plants at the site mean that counts of numbers of patches over an 11-y period cannot be used t...
Effect of external turbulence on the evolution of a wake in stratified and unstratified environments

Direct numerical simulations are performed to study the evolution of a towed stratified wake subject to external turbulence in the background. A field of isotropic turbulence is combined with an initial turbulent wake field and the combined wake is simulated in a temporally evolving framework similar to that of Rind & Castro (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 710, 2012a, p. 482). Simulations are performed for external turbulence whose initial level varies between zero and a moderate intensity of up to 7 % relative to the free stream and whose initial integral length scale is of the same order as that of the wake turbulence. A series of simulations are carried out at a Reynolds number of 10 000 and Froude number of 3. Background turbulence, especially at a level of 3 % or above, is found to have substantial quantitative effects in the stratified simulations. Turbulence inside the wake increases due to the entrainment of external turbulence, and the energy transfer through turbulent production from mean to fluctuating velocity also increases, leading to reduced mean velocity. The profiles of normalized mean and turbulence quantities in the stratified wake exhibit little change in the vertical direction but the horizontal spread increases in comparison to the case with undisturbed background. The spatial organization of the internal wave field is disrupted even at the 1 % level of external turbulence. However, key characteristics of stratified wakes such as the formation of coherent pancake vortices and the long lifetime of the mean wake are robust to the presence of fluctuations in the background. A corresponding series of simulations for the unstratified situation is carried out at the same Reynolds number of 10 000 and with similar levels of external turbulence. The change of mean and turbulence statistics is found to be weaker in the unstratified cases compared with the corresponding stratified cases and also weaker relative to that found by Rind & Castro (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 710, 2012a, p. 482) at a similar level of external turbulence relative to the free stream and similar integral length scale. Theoretical arguments and additional simulations are provided to show that the level of external turbulence relative to wake turbulence (dissimilar between the present investigation and Rind & Castro (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 710, 2012a, p. 482)) is a key governing parameter in both stratified and unstratified backgrounds.
Police shootings of unarmed African American males: a systematic review

ABSTRACTThis article describes the results of a systematic review examining police shootings of unarmed African American males. Each source was evaluated by two reviewers and coded based on topic relevance and inclusion criteria. Because of the weak external validity found among the experimental studies, the authors made a substantive decision not to synthesize studies in a meta-analysis. Social work practice implications are gleaned from secondary data obtained from coroner, medical examiner, toxicology, police reports, and the experimental studies included in the systematic review. Individual, community, and police departmental policy factors were most often reported to explain such shootings when excluding sources that examined armed African American males. Implications for micro and macro–social work practice are summarized as individual, community, and police departmental policy factors.
Systems Level Evaluation of Space and Planetary Habitat Interior Layouts

This paper develops a design methodology for future planetary habitat interior layouts and proposes a preliminary approach for optimization. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. The first purpose is to outline a structured methodology to perform systems level evaluations of habitat interior layouts. This process uses multi-attribute decision making methods to develop and evaluate a single, multi-objective function which measures the overall utility of a habitat interior layout. The second purpose is to compile a complete set of objective habitat interior layout evaluation criteria which are automatically calculable from the positions, orientations and characteristics of the equipment packaged within the habitat. These criteria are selected to provide the best compromise between mass, volume, workflow, and habitability, four drivers of interior configurations. Results of this study include a breakdown of the evaluation criteria identified, a description of the criteria weightings which measure the relative importance of each criterion to the multi-objective function value, descriptions of the proposed methods of quantifying criteria values, and a description of the methodology used to combine the evaluation criteria values, weightings, and constraints into an overall measure of layout utility. Finally, the process and evaluation criteria are validated by performing a sample evaluation of the Lunar Surface Systems Scenario 12.0 Pressurized Core Module, which represents one of the more recent habitat design efforts made public.
UV photochemistry of peroxyformic acid (HC(O)OOH): an experimental and computational study investigating 355 nm photolysis.

The photochemistry of peroxyformic acid (PFA), a molecule of atmospheric interest exhibiting internal hydrogen bonding, is examined by exciting the molecule at 355 nm and detecting the nascent OH f...
Corporate Financing of Innovation and the Medium-Run Cycle

I document that publicly-listed firms which are intensive in innovation (intangible capital formation) are less able to engage in volatile external financing flows. The effect is primarily due to debt financing; equity financing acts as a partial substitute. Then, I develop a business cycle model with endogenous innovation that incorporates these facts in order to explain the short and medium-run effects of financial shocks. The increases in the cost of debt and venture capital financing during the Great Recession can explain an important part of the ensuing deviation of output from trend, as the reduction in innovation amplifies persistence.
Associations of overweight and obesity with hypertension among residents aged 35 years or older in Zhenjiang city

Objective To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in residents aged 35 years or older in Zhenjiang city and to investigate the effect of overweight and obesity on the development of hypertension. Methods Multi-stage cluster random sampling was used to select 2 520 permanent residents aged 35 years or older from 7 urban ar-eas of Zhenjiang city. Questionnaire survey and physical examination were administered to the residents. Results The prevalence rate of overweight,obesity,abdominal obesity,and hypertention was 37. 9%,11. 0%,54. 6%,and 38. 3%,re-spectively,among the residents. The prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in the residents with overweight, obesity or abdominal obesity compard to that of residents with normal body weight,with statistically significant differ-ences(P0. 05). The risk of developing hypertension increased with the increments of body mass index and waist circ-umference. Conclusion The prevalence rates of overweight,obesity and abdominal obesity are high among permanent residents in Zhenjiang city and the residents with overweight or obesity are at a higher risk of hypertension.
Assembly of Layered Monetite-Chitosan Nanocomposite and Its Transition to Organized Hydroxyapatite

Bioinspired synthesis of hierarchically structured calcium phosphate (CaP) material is a highly promising strategy for developing improved bone substitute materials. However, synthesis of CaP materials with outstanding mechanical properties still remains an ongoing challenge. Inspired by the formation of lamellar structure in nacre, we designed an organic matrix composed of chitosan and cis-butenediolic acid (maleic acid, MAc) that could assemble into a layered complex and further guide the mineralization of monetite crystals, resulting in the formation of organized and parallel arrays of monetite platelets with a brick-and-mortar structure. Using the layered monetite-chitosan composite as a precursor, we were able to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HAp) with multiscale hierarchically ordered structure via a topotactic phase transformation process. On the nanoscale, needlelike HAp crystallites assembled into organized bundles that aligned to form highly oriented plates on the microscale. On the large-scale lev...
Open Source Data Quality Tools: Revisited

High data quality is defined as the reliability and application efficiency of data present in a system. Maintaining high data quality has become a key feature for most organizations. Different data quality tools are used for extracting, cleaning, and matching data sources. In this paper, we first introduce state of the art open source data quality tools, specifically Talend Open Studio, DataCleaner, WinPure, Data Preparator, Data Match, DataMartist, Pentaho Kettle, SQL Power Architect, SQL Power DQguru, and DQ Analyzer. Secondly, we compare these tools based on their key features and performance in data profiling, integration, and cleaning. Overall, DataCleaner scores highest among the considered tools.
A low-cost acoustic permeameter

Abstract. Intrinsic permeability is an important parameter that regulates air exchange through porous media such as snow. Standard methods of measuring snow permeability are inconvenient to perform outdoors, are fraught with sampling errors, and require specialized equipment, while bringing intact samples back to the laboratory is also challenging. To address these issues, we designed, built, and tested a low-cost acoustic permeameter that allows computation of volume-averaged intrinsic permeability for a homogenous medium. In this paper, we validate acoustically derived permeability of homogenous, reticulated foam samples by comparison with results derived using a standard flow-through permeameter. Acoustic permeameter elements were designed for use in snow, but the measurement methods are not snow-specific. The electronic components – consisting of a signal generator, amplifier, speaker, microphone, and oscilloscope – are inexpensive and easily obtainable. The system is suitable for outdoor use when it is not precipitating, but the electrical components require protection from the elements in inclement weather. The permeameter can be operated with a microphone either internally mounted or buried a known depth in the medium. The calibration method depends on choice of microphone positioning. For an externally located microphone, calibration was based on a low-frequency approximation applied at 500 Hz that provided an estimate of both intrinsic permeability and tortuosity. The low-frequency approximation that we used is valid up to 2 kHz, but we chose 500 Hz because data reproducibility was maximized at this frequency. For an internally mounted microphone, calibration was based on attenuation at 50 Hz and returned only intrinsic permeability. We found that 50 Hz corresponded to a wavelength that minimized resonance frequencies in the acoustic tube and was also within the response limitations of the microphone. We used reticulated foam of known permeability (ranging from 2 × 10−7 to 3 × 10−9 m2) and estimated tortuosity of 1.05 to validate both methods. For the externally mounted microphone the mean normalized standard deviation was 6 % for permeability and 2 % for tortuosity. The mean relative error from known measurements was 17 % for permeability and 2 % for tortuosity. For the internally mounted microphone the mean normalized standard deviation for permeability was 10 % and the relative error was also 10 %. Permeability determination for an externally mounted microphone is less sensitive to environmental noise than is the internally mounted microphone and is therefore the recommended method. The approximation using the internally mounted microphone was developed as an alternative for circumstances in which placing the microphone in the medium was not feasible. Environmental noise degrades precision of both methods and is recognizable as increased scatter for replicate data points.
Bringing the War Home: The Imperial War Museum

In an article on Katherine Mansfield, Con Coroneos describes war as “a very complex space … a mental and geographical practice constituted through actual battle sites and cultural and mental space.”1 Coroneos asks us to recognize that the geography of the First World War is incomprehensible if we ignore the cultural, ideological, and psychic dimensions informing spatial designations such as the Western Front and the home front. Over the last 30 years feminist scholars have used this perspective to analyze the gendered nature of First World War spaces, drawing our attention to the porous boundaries between seemingly distinct locations. Thus, women participated directly in war work, as ancillary workers behind the lines or in Britain, about 2,000,000 women engaging, for example, in munitions work alone.2 All British civilians experienced the realities of “total war,” whether through bereavement, rationing, the physical dangers of zeppelin bombing and munitions work, or the psychological effects of the home population’s mobilization in support of the war. However, the naming of actual spaces as either civilian or military, combatant or non-combatant, introduces a hierarchy in which home-front action and experiences always fall short of the true war experience. The barring of civilians from the war zone thus delimits a specific location and a set of experiences that belong only to men and that are associated with firsthand experience of combat conditions. The ample attention many feminist critics have given to the war’s version of separate spheres makes it unnecessary to revisit this point.3 However, these critics’ emphasis on the role of the actual physical territory of the British Isles in an imaginary topography of the war marks the “home front,” itself an ideological creation, as an important focus in any discussions of how British culture during and after the First World War represents the always contradictory and unstable geography of English nationalism.
Disaster relief: Starting points for learning

L'Internet offre toutes sortes de ressources consacrees aux efforts humanitaires pour repondre aux catastrophes, naturelles ou non, dont le nombre est en nette augmentation. L'article examine quelques-unes de ces ressources : sites d'organisations nationales ou internationales, sites d'agences des Nations Unies, sites d'organismes regionaux, sites consacres a la medecine et a la sante mentale et journaux electroniques.
Analysis of In Vitro Effects of Bortezomib (Velcade) on T Cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia (T-PLL).

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is an aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder with postthymic T cell phenotype and prolymphocytic morphology. In the majority of patients, the leukemic process progresses rapidly and patients die shortly after diagnosis (median survival of 7 months). Bortezomib, the first proteasome inhibitor to be approved for use in haematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma, is beginning to be utilized as an effective anti-neoplastic agent in other hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic neoplastic disorders. We report here the in vitro apoptotic effects of bortezomib on leukemic cells isolated from three T-PLL patients. Interestingly, one of the patient’s leukemia developed in the setting of immunosupression due to transplant therapy (post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder). Flow cytometric analysis of leukemic cells of the three patients showed CD8, double CD4+CD8+ and double CD4−CD8− immunophenotypic features. All cases showed monoclonal band pattern by T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement as analyzed by the PCR amplification of the TCR gamma heavy chain gene. Freshly isolated leukemic cells with the CD8 phenotype T-PLL analyzed for apoptosis after ficoll hypaque separation and cultured in the presence of various concentration of Bortezomib (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 uM) for dose curve analysis. Apoptosis of the leukemic cells was determined by Annexin-V and 7-AAD staining and flow cytometric analysis after incubation at 24 and 72 hours, respectively. Samples treated for 72 hours showed higher rate of apoptosis compared to 24 hours: 10 uM (62% increase above the base line of control cells), 1 uM (58%), 0.1 uM (55%), 0.01 uM (40%) and 0.001 uM (0%) concentrations while samples treated for 24 hours with 10 uM showed (42% increase above the base line of control cells) and 1 uM (33% increase above the base line). Light microscopic analysis of leukemic cells treated with Bortezomib confirmed that the majority of cells undergo apoptosis with Bortezomib treatment as it revealed nuclear fragmentation and apoptotic bodies. Leukemic cells recovered from cryopreservation from the second and third T-PLL patient samples analyzed also showed significant increase in early and late apoptosis at 24 hours with Bortezomib treatment (10nm). These results suggest that Bortezomib may provide an alternate therapy in the treatment of T-PLL. Future collaborative efforts investigating efficacy with Bortezomib as a single agent or in combination with other therapeutic agents will be crucial to improving survival for patients with this disease.
Synthesis and structural characterization of RE6Cd23T (RE=La–Gd; T=Sn, Sb, Pb, and Bi)

Abstract Synthetic methods and structural characterization are reported for 11 novel ternary compounds with the general formula RE6Cd23T (RE=La–Gd; T=Sn, Sb, Pb, and Bi). Their crystal structures, as revealed by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, are of the cubic Zr6Zn23Si structure type (cF120, Fm 3 ¯ m, Z=4), a filled version of the Th6Mn23 system. No Cd-containing rare-earth metal binaries are known to form with this structure, but the inclusion of small amounts of a third element allows the formation of the interstitially stabilized ternary structures. Temperature dependent dc magnetization measurements confirm local-moment magnetism due to RE3+ ground states for Ce, Pr, and Nd.
Paper-based diagnostic devices

This chapter will provide an overview of existing diagnostic devices made primarily out of paper and then focus on paper-based microfluidic devices, the next generation of paper-based diagnostic devices that promises to extend the use of paper as a material for fabricating diagnostic devices well into the future.
Gender and Family in Television’s Golden Age and Beyond

Images of women, work, and family on television have changed enormously since the heyday of the network era. Early television confined women to the home and family setting. The increase in working women in the 1960s and 1970s was reflected in television’s images of women working and living nontraditional family lives. These images gave way, in the postnetwork era, to a form of postfeminist television in the 1990s when television undercut the ideals of liberal feminism with a series of ambiguous images challenging its gains. Women’s roles in the workplace, increasingly shown, were undercut by a sense of nostalgic yearning for the love and family life that they were seen to have displaced. Current television presents a third-wave-influenced feminism that picks up where postfeminism left off, introducing important representations more varied in race, sexuality, and the choices women are seen to make between work and family.
Percutaneous Image-Guided Cryoneurolysis

OBJECTIVE. The aim of this article is to review the available evidence regarding image-guided percutaneous cryoneurolysis, with a focus on indications, technique, efficacy, and potential complicati...
Listening to Patients: Attending Skills

Although attending is the lynchpin to effective genetic counseling, it is not always an easy process. Attending is complicated by the fact that genetic counselors must simultaneously focus on the patient and on themselves. This chapter defines attending skills and describes their functions (when and how they matter) in genetic counseling; distinguishes between counselor physical attending and psychological attending behaviors; and illustrates several ways in which attending skills are tailored to individual and cultural patient characteristics, practice specialties, and service delivery modalities. Generally effective attending behaviors are identified and distinguished from ineffective ones. Attending challenges such as silence are discussed along with suggested counselor strategies. A series of activities and written exercises help students develop physical and psychological attending skills through self-reflection, practice, and feedback.
Discordance Between Pathologic and Radiologic Tumor Size on Breast MRI May Contribute to Increased Re-excision Rates:

Preoperative breast MRI does not decrease re-excision rates in patients who undergo lumpectomy. We evaluated concordance of tumor size on MRI and pathologic size in patients who underwent re-excisi...
Agonistic and Affiliative Signals: Resolutions of Conflict

As Darwin noted, competition for limited resources is ubiquitous in animals. Competition in group-living species, however, creates a dilemma: how do individuals simultaneously compete with one another and remain in the same social group? Communication alleviates the effects of aggression in two ways. Competitive encounters typically take the form of communicative displays that allow individuals to assess an opponent’s prowess without actual fighting; and in some species, particularly primates, communicative signals following aggression lead to reconciliation between opponents. Experimental studies of the mechanisms underlying reconciliation in baboons suggest that individuals recognize the motives and intentions of others.
Does Delaying Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Adversely Impact Quality‐of‐Life Outcomes?

Objectives There is little consensus regarding the prognostic value of symptom duration in predicting clinical disease severity or quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Our objectives were to: 1) determine if patients with longer symptom duration have worse preoperative disease severity and/or QOL, and 2) determine if delayed surgical intervention influences outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Methods Patients diagnosed with CRS were prospectively enrolled into a multicenter cohort study and observed 14.7 (standard deviaton {SD} ± 4.8) months on average following primary ESS. Preoperative symptom duration was stratified into short-term ( 60 months). Disease severity was assessed using endoscopy and computed tomography. Disease-specific QOL was measured with the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) and Rhinosinusitis Disability Index. Adjusted bivariate and multivariate associations between symptom duration, disease severity, and QOL scores were evaluated. Results One hundred and thirteen patients met inclusion criteria with 35 patients lost to postoperative follow-up. No significant differences in preoperative disease severity or QOL scores were reported between symptom duration subgroups. Participants in the long-term symptom subgroup reported significantly greater mean postoperative improvement on SNOT-22 total scores (n = 28; -36.3[± 22.2]) compared to both short-term (n = 27; -23.4[SD ± 11.3]; P = 0.039) and middle-term (n = 23; -23.5[SD ± 20.1]; P = 0.050) subgroups. Postoperative QOL improvements in the long-term symptom subgroup remained significantly greater (P ≤ 0.036) after multivariate adjustment. Conclusions Symptom duration was not associated with mean preoperative disease severity or QOL. Patients with long-term symptom duration reported the greatest mean postoperative QOL improvement, suggesting that delayed surgical intervention may not reduce QOL improvements following ESS. Level of evidence 2c Laryngoscope, 129:303-311, 2019.
Generation capacity expansion under demand, capacity factor and environmental policy uncertainties

Abstract This paper presents an extension and application of the two-stage stochastic optimization methodology to determine electricity generation technology choices and capacity additions under sequential and multiple uncertainties. Specifically, the model presented in this paper addresses how uncertainties in electricity demand, capacity factor of wind and solar technologies, and environmental policy combine to affect the capacity additions of electricity generation technologies. This study unpacks the impact of these uncertainties to find that, on the one hand, when policy uncertainty is isolated from uncertainties in demand and capacity factor, neither of the two uncertainties dominates the other; instead they are complementary. Capacity factor uncertainty will dictate the types of technologies to be deployed while demand uncertainty will determine the amount of capacity to be installed or purchased. On the other hand, a combination of the three dimensions of uncertainty highlights intriguing insights that demonstrate the dominance of one uncertainty over the other. Under two different environmental policies, emissions standards and carbon taxes, the optimal prescription of generation technology combinations with respect to capacity additions are varied. However, we find that carbon tax will be more efficient at reducing CO2.
Automated Pneumothorax Diagnosis Using Deep Neural Networks

Thoracic ultrasound can provide information leading to rapid diagnosis of pneumothorax with improved accuracy over the standard physical examination and with higher sensitivity than anteroposterior chest radiography. However, the clinical interpretation of a patient medical image is highly operator dependent. Furthermore, remote environments, such as the battlefield or deep-space exploration, may lack expertise for diagnosing certain pathologies. We have developed an automated image interpretation pipeline for the analysis of thoracic ultrasound data and the classification of pneumothorax events to provide decision support in such situations. Our pipeline consists of image preprocessing, data augmentation, and deep learning architectures for medical diagnosis. In this work, we demonstrate that robust, accurate interpretation of chest images and video can be achieved using deep neural networks. A number of novel image processing techniques were employed to achieve this result. Affine transformations were applied for data augmentation. Hyperparameters were optimized for learning rate, dropout regularization, batch size, and epoch iteration by a sequential model-based Bayesian approach. In addition, we utilized pretrained architectures, applying transfer learning and fine-tuning techniques to fully connected layers. Our pipeline yielded binary classification validation accuracies of \(98.3\%\) for M-mode images and \(99.8\%\) with B-mode video frames.