cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Terrain impact on HF radar deployment for homeland security applications

Emerging homeland security applications require low-cost and quickly deployable HF radar systems. In order to overcome the significant costs/unavailability of land lease in coastal areas for fixed applications, deployment of HF radar systems in challenging terrain environments is necessary. One such environment is the hilltops which naturally have slope and roughness. In this paper, through the investigation of radio wave propagation in such environments, we examined the effect of the slope and roughness of the terrain on the performance of HF radars. It is shown that the slope of the terrain will affect the effective inter-element spacing of the array and causes beamforming and scanning errors. It is also shown that surface roughness of the terrain also changes the effective inter-element phase differences and hence array performance. While the effect of the slope could be very significant diffraction effects from surface roughness resulted in a much smaller error of about 18°.
A reconsideration of anterior chamber flare and its clinical relevance for children with chronic anterior uveitis (an American Ophthalmological Society thesis).

Purpose To gain a better understanding of laser flare photometry values (“flare”) as a feature of chronic anterior uveitis in children; to identify relationships between flare and other patient and disease characteristics; to describe changes in flare during course of disease; and specifically to determine whether elevated flare is predictive of subsequent adverse events.
A class of fixed-time fuel-optimal impulsive control problems and an efficient algorithm for their solution

A fuel-optimal impulsive control problem, which is a generalization of the problem considered by Neustadt [9], is treated. Certain theoretical results, including necessary conditions for optimality, are derived using simple geometric arguments. It is shown that the general algorithms proposed by Barr and Gilbert [2] can be applied to obtain numerical solutions. The computer implementation is described in general terms and a number of numerical examples are given to demonstrate the efficiency and versatility of the algorithm.
Stride-Time Variability and Fall Risk in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis.

Gait variability is associated with falls in clinical populations. However, gait variability's link to falls in persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) is not well established. This investigation examined the relationship between stride-time variability, fall risk, and physiological fall risk factors in PwMS. 17 PwMS (62.8 ± 7.4 years) and 17 age-matched controls (62.8 ± 5.9 years) performed the 6-minute walk test. Stride-time was assessed with accelerometers attached to the participants' shanks. Stride-time variability was measured by interstride coefficient of variation (CV) of stride-time. The participant's fall risk was measured by the short form physiological profile assessment (PPA). A Spearman correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables. Increased fall risk was strongly associated with increased stride-time CV in both PwMS (ρ = 0.71, p 0.05). In PwMS, stride-time CV was related to postural sway (ρ = 0.74, p < 0.01) while in the control group, it was related to proprioception (ρ = 0.61, p < 0.01) and postural sway (ρ = 0.78, p < 0.01). Current observations suggest that gait variability is maybe more sensitive marker of fall risk than average gait parameters in PwMS. It was also noted that postural sway may be potentially targeted to modify gait variability in PwMS.
Human chorionic gonadotropin in pediatric and adolescent gynecology

Abstract Testing for the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) has many important applications to pediatric and adolescent gynecology. The production of β-hCG is the basis of all modern pregnancy tests. Levels of hCG are valuable in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, nonviable intrauterine pregnancies, and the follow-up of molar pregnancies to exclude gestational trophoblastic disease. Human chorionic gonadotropin may also be produced by ovarian malignancies. Radioimmunoassays are used to obtain levels of hCG. These can be assayed against different standards, with significantly different expected values. Modern technology has made available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays which use urine as a test medium. These quick urine tests diagnose very early pregnancy and are adequate screening tests in cases of suspected ectopic pregnancy.
Analysis on monitoring results of hygiene situation of primary and junior high school classrooms in Zhangjiagang City

[Objective]To know the hygiene situation of primary and junior high school classrooms in Zhangjiagang City,ensure students' healthy growth,as well as study the existing problems and solutions.[Methods]360 classrooms were collected from 73 primary and junior high schools in Zhangjiagang City during 2009-2011,and the monitoring results of hygiene situation were analyzed.[Results]The qualified rate of desk lighting coefficient,average illumination of desk,average illumination of blackboard,ratio of window to floor area,and the per capita area of classrooms was 81.33%,93.65%,78.51%,100% and 76.39%,respectively.[Conclusion]The hygiene situation of primary and junior high school classrooms in Zhangjiagang City is not optimistic,so schools and relevant departments should pay attention to the hygiene situation of classroom.
The value of the negative radionuclide scrotal scan in the management of the acutely inflamed scrotum in children.

AbstractTorsion of the testis remains a clinicai diagnosis and confirmatory testing is not required when the classic signs and symptoms are present. Conflicting laboratory data or adjunctive diagnostic studies should not dissuade the surgeon from exploration when the clinical index of suspicion is high. In those patients having equivocal clinical findings when the diagnosis of torsion is not clear-cut radionuclide scrotal imaging may be useful. In this series a negative scrotal scan at the time of acute scrotal pain did predict reliably the diagnosis of non-torsion, suggesting that in the appropriate clinical setting scrotal imaging is useful in avoiding surgical exploration.
Ligand Field Spectra and Magnetic Properties of Synthetic Macrocyclic Complexes

Investigations of ligand field spectra, magnetic susceptibilities, and electron spin resonance provide the basis for the assignment of electronic configurations of macrocyclic complexes with transition-metal ions. This chapter reviews those studies that have provided detailed interpretations of the electronic properties of the synthetic macrocyclic complexes. Studies of the naturally occurring macrocycles, e.g., porphyrins or corrins, or the closely related phthalocyanines, are excluded, as they are treated elsewhere in this volume. Several earlier reviews (1–4) have included information about the electronic structures of the synthetic macrocyclic complexes.
Codon identity regulates mRNA stability and translation efficiency during the maternal‐to‐zygotic transition

Abstract Cellular transitions require dramatic changes in gene expression that are supported by regulated mRNA decay and new transcription. The maternal‐to‐zygotic transition is a conserved developmental progression during which thousands of maternal mRNAs are cleared by post‐transcriptional mechanisms. Although some maternal mRNAs are targeted for degradation by microRNAs, this pathway does not fully explain mRNA clearance. We investigated how codon identity and translation affect mRNA stability during development and homeostasis. We show that the codon triplet contains translation‐dependent regulatory information that influences transcript decay. Codon composition shapes maternal mRNA clearance during the maternal‐to‐zygotic transition in zebrafish, Xenopus , mouse, and Drosophila , and gene expression during homeostasis across human tissues. Some synonymous codons show consistent stabilizing or destabilizing effects, suggesting that amino acid composition influences mRNA stability. Codon composition affects both polyadenylation status and translation efficiency. Thus, the ribosome interprets two codes within the mRNA: the genetic code which specifies the amino acid sequence and a conserved “codon optimality code” that shapes mRNA stability and translation efficiency across vertebrates.
Drug delivery interfaces: A way to optimize inhalation therapy in spontaneously breathing children

Drug delivery interfaces: A way to optimize inhalation therapy in spontaneously breathing children
PD-1 Is Expressed on B-Cells in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia and Promotes Malignant Cell Viability and Proliferation

The tumor microenvironment plays an important role in regulating malignant cell growth and mechanisms to enhance anti-tumor immune function have been shown to improve patient outcome. Interactions between programmed death 1 (PD-1) and its ligands (PD-L1 and PD-L2) have been shown to be an important checkpoint in immune regulation. While it is well known that PD-1 is expressed on normal T cells and signaling through PD-1 inhibits T cell function, PD-1 is also expressed on a subset of B-cells but little is known about PD-1 signaling in B-cells. The goal of this study was to determine if the PD-1 is expressed on malignant B cells in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) and whether this pathway plays a role in the survival and growth of malignant B cells in this B cell lymphoma. Using flow cytometry, we found that the cell lines MWCL-1, BCWM.1 and RPCI, all derived from patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, expressed PD-1 to varying degrees on their cell surface. PD-1 expression in the cell lines was further confirmed by RT PCR analysis. Using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry to examine bone marrow specimens from WM patients, we further confirmed PD-1 expression on CD19+ CD138+ malignant B-cells. Furthermore, intense staining for the ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2 was found by in bone marrows of WM patients when compared to normal bone marrow specimens. When WM cell lines are co-cultured with stromal cells engineered to express PD-L1 or PD-L2, there was a consistent increase in cell viability compared to controls. When malignant B cells from WM patients were co-cultured with stromal cells expressing the ligands, viability was unchanged but there was an increase in cell proliferation, most noticeably when cocultured with cells expressing PD-L2. To determine potential mechanisms that account for upregulation of PD-1 on malignant B-cells, we tested whether cytokines that promote WM cell growth and survival, including IL-6, IL-21 and BAFF, increased PD-1 expression. We found that WM cell lines and patient derived CD19+CD138+WM B-cells (n=4) treated with IL-21 demonstrated an increase in PD-1 expression compared to untreated controls. We conclude that PD-1 is expressed on malignant B-cells in WM and that signaling through PD-1 may promote WM cell growth and survival. Blocking PD-1/PD ligand interactions may therefore be a potential therapeutic strategy in patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Scandinavia: The Banality of Goodness

Denmark is often considered ‘the righteous of nations’ during the Holocaust because the Danish people helped most of the Jewish population (94%) escape to neutral Sweden. In Norway, by contrast, 46% of the Jewish population was deported. In this chapter, Hollander argues that the tacit collaboration of the Danish government set the stage for its Jews to escape. Because the Danish government was helpful to Nazi Germany, Germany to tread lightly when it came to attacking Denmark’s Jews. In Norway, the constitutional leadership refused to cooperate with Nazi Germany, and rallied the resistance instead. Though heroic, this refusal led Germany to impose upon Norway a puppet government dominated by Nazi loyalists. Thus, Norway’s higher victimization rate is an unintended consequence of the legitimate government’s resistance; Denmark’s Jews survived because, at least initially, their government saw collaboration as the lesser of two evils.
Platelet-Rich Plasma

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a growing and robust therapeutic option in musculoskeletal medicine. PRP is a preparation of autologous plasma enriched with a platelet concentration above that normally contained in whole blood. The rationale for use and therapeutic potential of a high concentration of platelets is based on their capacity to supply supraphysiologic amounts of essential growth factors to provide a regenerative stimulus that promotes repair in tissues with low healing potential. This article reviews the latest basic science on PRP, clinical evidence for its use in musculoskeletal medicine, limitations in current knowledge, and critical areas for future research.
Positive parenting predicts cortisol functioning six years later in young adults.

Research which indicates that adverse experiences influence hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning illustrates the social environment ‘getting under the skin’. The present study extended this literature by examining whether positive social forces within the caregiving environment can also impact cortisol functioning. We conducted a prospective investigation of over 300 youth, half of whom were White and half were Black. Attachment, bonding and parental rewards for positive behaviors were observed or reported by the youth as an 8th grader. Twelve repeated measures of salivary cortisol were examined six years later when youth were young adults (mean age 20). Race differences were explored. Stronger attachment, bonding and teen-reported positive parenting were predictive of high waking cortisol and steeper diurnal slopes six years later. This effect was nonlinear and additive, such that youth whose social contexts were characterized by the strongest attachment, bonding and rewarding parental relationships had the highest waking cortisol. When effects were moderated by race, findings were such that links of positive parenting with HPA functioning were more consistent for White than Black youth. Findings suggest that positive aspects of the caregiving environment can also ‘get under the skin’ and these effects are additive across a range of caregiving indices. These findings dovetail with an emerging literature on the powerful role of social support for shaping the body's stress response system and are interpreted as consistent with the Adaptive Calibration Model which suggests that cortisol regulation can have adaptive significance. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/8evHXpt_TXM.
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems for interpreting complex medical datasets

Advances in machine intelligence have created powerful capabilities in algorithms that find hidden patterns in data, classify objects based on their measured characteristics, and associate similar patients/diseases/drugs based on common features. However, artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical data have several technical challenges: complex and heterogeneous datasets, noisy medical datasets, and explaining their output to users. There are also social challenges related to intellectual property, data provenance, regulatory issues, economics, and liability.
Optimal individual attack on BB84 quantum key distribution using single-photon two-qubit quantum logic

We propose the use of single-photon two-qubit quantum logic to physically simulate the optimal individual attack on Bennett-Brassard 1984 quantum key distribution protocol.The experimental setup does not require a quantum memory due to the physical simulation character of the proposal.
Randomized double blind trial of amitriptyline versus placebo in treatment of chronic laryngopharyngeal neuropathy.

Abstract Objective A neuropathic etiology has been suggested for patients with chronic laryngopharyngitis symptoms without visible structural pathology. Prior studies have shown that treatment with neuro-modulating medications is beneficial, but it is unknown if this was due to placebo effect. Our objective was to compare the efficacy of amitriptyline versus placebo in treating chronic laryngopharyngeal neuropathy. Study design Prospective, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Methods Patients were randomized to receive placebo or amitriptyline for 8 weeks. Primary outcome was change in modified Reflux Symptom Index (mRSI) score. Secondary outcomes were change in Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI) scores, rates of adverse effects, and overall symptom severity. Results Eighteen patients completed the study. The average difference in mRSI and VHI-10 scores after treatment were not significantly different between study arms. However, more subjects taking amitriptyline felt their symptoms had subjectively improved (6 out of 9, 67%), while the remainder noted no change. In the placebo group, only 4 out of 9 subjects (44%) felt their symptoms were better and 2 felt worse. Subjects took an average of 25 mg of amitriptyline or placebo daily by the end of the 8-week treatment period. No serious adverse effects were noted. Conclusion Although there was a trend toward greater subjective improvement in overall symptoms with amitriptyline, interpretation is limited due to the small sample size. Larger randomized controlled trials to determine the efficacy of neuro-modulating agents in the treatment of chronic laryngopharyngeal neuropathy, as well as better metrics to characterize this disorder, are warranted.
Stimulating and Resisting Transborder Indigenous Adoptions in North America in the 1970s

This chapter probes the underlying class, race, and colonial dynamics of transborder Indigenous adoption in North America in the late twentieth century. It focuses on the 1970s case of three Metis foster children in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, who had been living with their foster parents for eight years when provincial authorities removed them and placed them with a white adoptive couple in Michigan. These three children were among thousands of Indigenous Canadian children whom authorities scooped up in the 1960s and 1970s and placed in non-Indigenous homes both within Canada and over the border in the United States. This removal was different, however. It became very public and generated fierce resistance from the local Metis community, which led to an investigation by a provincial Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s report provides a rare glimpse into the official reasoning behind Indigenous child removal. Saskatchewan Social Service administrators considered the Metis children’s foster family to be fit and loving but justified removal on the grounds that the children lacked “stimulation” and needed “permanency.” The chapter analyzes how these ill-defined concepts served as a code for unexamined class, racial, and colonial biases that enabled authorities to intervene in and undermine Indigenous families and communities.
A Corporate Scandal that Hits Close to Home: Examining Owners’ Responses to the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Scandal

The 2015 Volkswagen Group (VW) diesel emissions scandal has affected no group of individuals more directly than owners of the affected vehicles. Yet to date no research has examined in depth how ow...
Abstract 17832: A New Rapid Vector Technique to Localize the PVC Origin From the 12-lead Ecg Compared to Cips

Introduction: Prior accurate PVC localization improves the time and outcome of ablative procedures. We developed a new manual Vector Technique (VcT) to localize the PVC origin to cardiac anatomy re...
Effects of Ebola Virus Disease education on student health professionals.

Abstract Background and purpose Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness. Studies have shown that healthcare professionals lack an in-depth knowledge of EVD. Countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa are beginning to emphasize the need to train healthcare professionals about EVD, but the United States still lacks formal training for healthcare students. There is little research about the effectiveness of EVD training to support this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge-base and attitudes of healthcare students concerning EVD. Educational activity and setting Two-hundred sixty-nine participants (including pharmacy students, physician assistant students, and nursing students) completed a pre- and post-survey. The survey measured both knowledge and perceptions. The post-survey was administered after the intervention to measure change. The intervention was comprised of a pre-recorded lecture about EVD transmission, prevention, and treatment. Findings All groups displayed significant changes in knowledge and perception, specifically in the areas of EVD transmission, prevention, and treatment. Pharmacy students’ attitudes increased significantly over their baseline score for all three attitude questions, whereas there were no significant changes in attitude to EVD among nurses. Physician assistant students’ attitudes changed regarding the topic of isolation. Discussion Education on EVD in pharmacy schools may provide beneficial results for students’ knowledge, and it may also help schools provide evidence to meet current standards for accreditation. Summary This educational intervention represents an effective format that could be a useful tool to help enhance or augment knowledge for healthcare workers. This could lead to better care for patients.
Puddling Behavior of Temperate Butterflies: Preference for Urine of Specific Mammals?

ABSTRACT. Urine representing the three feeding classifications of mammals, namely carnivore, herbivore and omnivore, was used as a sodium-containing bait in butterfly traps and at feeding stations, to determine any preferences by nectivorous temperate butterflies. Twenty individuals representing three families were trapped, with no significant difference between the different urines. Carnivore urine was significantly more attractive to puddling butterflies than herbivore or omnivore urine. This study was unable to determine if puddling butterflies were capable of seeking out sand with a specific sodium content or if amino acids and/or volatiles influenced their choice.
Symbiotic Mutants of Rhizobium Meliloti Which Produce Non-Succinylated Exopolysaccharide

We reported previously (1) that mutants (Exo-) of Rhizobium meliloti SU47 which failed to secrete the acidic extra-cellular polysaccharide formed abnormal nodules on Medicago sativa that did not fix nitrogen and did not contain bacteroids. This was true of mutants belonging to six different genetic complementation groups, and established a strong correlation between the ability to secrete the polysaccharide and the ability to invade nodules. These mutants were isolated on the basis of their non-fluorescent colony phenotype on agar medium containing the fluorescent stain calcofluor. Three of the loci defined by these mutants (ExoA, ExoB, and ExoF) were shown to reside in a cluster on the megaplasmid pRmeSU47b (2).
Electrical Stimulation Treatment

This chapter reviews ongoing research using electrical stimulation in ­dysphagia. Neuromuscular stimulation on the skin overlying the throat area resists hyo-laryngeal elevation during swallowing and does not increase benefit over traditional dysphagia therapy. Sensory stimulation of the pharyngeal mucosa has benefits for early recovery of swallowing post stroke but requires catheter insertion into the pharynx. Functional electrical stimulation has been most useful for limb control rehabilitation and has not been applied in dysphagia but presents with several technical challenges before it can be implemented. The use of electrical stimulation for dysphagia is at an early stage in its development but has great potential for the future benefits in dysphagia rehabilitation.
Selecting an auditor for Bradco using indicators of audit quality

Abstract In this activity, you are introduced to the auditor selection process and how indicators of an auditor’s audit quality may influence that process. You will gain an understanding of factors that can affect audit quality and apply that knowledge in a decision-making task – selecting an auditor for Bradco. The CAQ, PCAOB, IAASB, and other entities classify indicators according to how they impact audit quality. By completing the activity, you will learn to delineate how certain inputs (e.g., auditor training) may influence how an audit is conducted and certain outputs (e.g., PCAOB inspection findings) may measure or indicate whether an audit was conducted with an appropriate level of quality. The activity also demonstrates how indicators of audit quality may be used by audit committee members and company management to evaluate and select an auditor.
Secondary Photocrosslinking of Click Hydrogels To Probe Myoblast Mechanotransduction in Three Dimensions

Muscle cells sense the mechanical properties of their microenvironment, and these properties can change in response to injury or disease. Hydrogels with dynamic material properties can be used to study the effect of such varying mechanical signals. Here, we report the ability of azadibenzocyclooctyne to undergo a cytocompatible, photoinitiated crosslinking reaction. This reaction is exploited as a strategy for on-demand stiffening of three-dimensional cell scaffolds formed through an initial strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Myoblasts encapsulated in these networks respond to increased matrix stiffness through decreased cell spreading and nuclear localization of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP). However, when the photocrosslinking reaction is delayed to allow cell spreading, elongated myoblasts display increased YAP nuclear localization.
Relationship intentions, race, and gender: Student differences in condom use during hookups involving vaginal sex

Objective: To examine the relationship between race, gender, and pre-hookup relationship intentions and college students' participation in condomless vaginal sex. Participants: 3,315 Black and White college students who participated in the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS). Methods: Secondary data analysis of the OCSLS using Chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results: The model revealed that students who did not want a relationship with their hookup partners and students unsure of their relationship intentions were more likely to use condoms during their last vaginal hookup. Further, White and Female students were less likely to have used condoms during their last vaginal hookup.Conclusions: White and female students, as well as students desiring romantic relationships with hookup partners may be at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to decreased condom use. However, more research is needed to explore the factors driving STI disparities facing Black students despite higher condom use.
Nursing oral suction intervention to reduce aspiration and ventilator events (NO-ASPIRATE): A randomized clinical trial.

Aim The primary aim of this study is to compare an oropharyngeal suction intervention versus usual care on microaspiration in intubated patients. Secondary aims are to evaluate the intervention on ventilator-associated condition rates, time to occurrence and compare tracheal-oral α-amylase ratios between groups. Design Prospective randomized clinical trial. Methods The study received funding from the National Institutes of Health in February 2014 and Institutional Review Board approval in July 2013. Over 4 years, a convenience sample of 600 orally intubated, ventilated adult patients will be enrolled within 24 hr of intubation. The target sample is 400 participants randomized to the two groups. The intervention involves enhanced suctioning of the mouth and oropharynx every 4 hr, while the usual care group receives a sham suctioning. The research team will deliver usual oral care to all patients every 4 hr and collect oral and tracheal specimens every 12 hr, to quantify α-amylase levels to detect aspiration of oral secretions. Study completers must be enrolled at least 36 hr (baseline and three paired samples). Outcomes include α-amylase levels, percent of positive specimens, ventilator-associated conditions, length of stay, ventilator hours, and discharge disposition. Discussion Enrolment has closed, and data analysis has begun. Subgroup analyses emerged, contributing to future research knowledge. Impact Standardized interventions have reduced but do not address all risk factors associated with ventilator-associated conditions. This study provides the potential to reduce microaspiration and associated sequelae in critically ill, intubated patients.
Self-Regulated Design Learning: A Foundation and Framework for Teaching and Learning Design

Self-Regulated Design Learning: A Foundation and Framework for Teaching and Learning Design reframes how educators in architecture, landscape architecture, and other design disciplines think about teaching and learning design. The book weaves together concepts of constructivism, social cognitive theory, and self-regulated learning into a solid theoretical foundation for innovative teaching that emphasizes meaning, memory, problem solving, and mastery. The central goal of self-regulated design learning is making design learnable so that students are encouraged to become active, engaged participants in the design learning process. Key features of the book include: examining the issues, values, and challenges of teaching and learning in design, exploring select educational theories and concepts relevant to design pedagogy, illustrating the pivotal relationships between design learning and self-regulation, and discussing pedagogic techniques that support self-regulated design learning and lead to greater student achievement and performance. Self-Regulated Design Learning: A Foundation and Framework for Teaching and Learning Design provides numerous examples and applications to help design educators understand how to implement the self-regulated design learning methodology in their studios. Through this book, design educators will discover new ways of encouraging meaningful design learning through an advanced approach that is empowering, inspiring, and vital.
The political relationship between U.S. multinational corporations and the NAFTA investment chapter: the case of manufacturing multinationals

Many trade policy researchers and stakeholders claim that U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs) have near fiat political power to write U.S. trade and investment law, which they use to profit from...
Intravitreal methotrexate for the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Background/aims Preventing and treating proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) remain a serious challenge for vitreoretinal surgeons. PVR is a devastating complication of retinal detachment that results in recurrent detachment and limits visual recovery. At present, there is no effective treatment for PVR. Materials and methods A retrospective review was performed on a cohort of five consecutive eyes with severe PVR and recurrent retinal detachment that were treated with relaxing retinectomy, extended perfluorocarbon liquid tamponade (4–5 weeks) and a series of intravitreal methotrexate (MTX) injections (100–200 µg/0.05 mL for 10 weeks). Results All five patients remained reattached (100%) with 11–27 months of follow-up (mean = 17.4). 4 eyes recovered ambulatory vision (>20/200) with normal intraocular pressure and non-fibrotic laser scars along with the relaxing retinectomy. The initial patient remained reattached, but only had hand motions vision. The only adverse effect noted was mild superficial punctate keratopathy in one patient. Conclusion This small, retrospective study suggests that a series of MTX injections may be beneficial for treating complex retinal detachment caused by PVR. Further study is indicated.
Hierarchical Data Bases (IMS)

This chapter focuses on hierarchical data bases (IMS). IMS is an IBM product widely used throughout the world. The organization of the schema is different from the CODASYL or network organization. Instead of relating two record types through a set, as in the CODASYL model, or as with joins in the relational model, one relates several record types in a tree-like or hierarchical structure. The chapter presents an example of a data base that seems to be modeled naturally by a hierarchy. The IMS model has a user view or subschema capability called a logical data base description. The logical data base description contains logical data base record types that are constructed from segments of the physical data base record types. As in the case with the CODASYL subschemas, the application programs access the data base through the logical data base description. The segments that are in a logical data base description are called sensitive segments. Thus, an application program may only access sensitive segments.
CXCR4-targeted PET imaging using 64Cu-AMD3100 for detection of Waldenström Macroglobulinemia.

Objective: Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare B-cell malignancy characterized by secretion of immunoglobulin M and cancer infiltration in the bone marrow. Chemokine receptor such as CXCR...
DeepRoute: Herding Elephant and Mice Flows with Reinforcement Learning

Wide area networks are built to have enough resilience and flexibility, such as offering many paths between multiple pairs of end-hosts. To prevent congestion, current practices involve numerous tweaking of routing tables to optimize path computation, such as flow diversion to alternate paths or load balancing. However, this process is slow, costly and require difficult online decision-making to learn appropriate settings, such as flow arrival rate, workload, and current network environment. Inspired by recent advances in AI to manage resources, we present DeepRoute, a model-less reinforcement learning approach that translates the path computation problem to a learning problem. Learning from the network environment, DeepRoute learns strategies to manage arriving elephant and mice flows to improve the average path utilization in the network. Comparing to other strategies such as prioritizing certain flows and random decisions, DeepRoute is shown to improve average network path utilization to 30% and potentially reduce possible congestion across the whole network. This paper presents results in simulation and also how DeepRoute can be demonstrated by a Mininet implementation.
Foreword: Symposium on the 100th Anniversary of the AAUP Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure

This is the Foreword to a set of papers presented at the 2015 AALS annual meeting and published as a symposium in the Indiana Law Journal.
Working at home and elsewhere: daily work location, telework, and travel among United States knowledge workers.

The mediation of work practices by information and communication technologies enables knowledge workers to telework from remote non-office locations such as their homes, or to work nomadically from multiple locations in a day. This paper uses data from the American Time Use Survey to explore the relationship between daily work locations and travel in the United States from 2003 to 2017. Outcome variables include travel duration and travel during peak periods. Home is by far the most common non-office work location, but working from other people’s homes, cafes/libraries, vehicles, and combinations of multiple locations are also measured. Findings show that working from home only on a day (full-day telework) decreases daily travel duration and increases the likelihood of avoiding peak hour travel for both work and non-work related travel. However, for homeworkers who also conduct work from their workplace on the same day (part-day telework), there is no reduction in daily travel time, and avoiding peak hour travel is limited to work-related travel. Working from other locations such as cafes/libraries or vehicles increases the likelihood of not traveling at peak hours. Findings also indicate that morning peak periods are more affected by work location decisions than evening peak periods. A survival analysis of daily departure times for both full-day and part-day homeworkers provides insight into this mechanism. We conclude on the basis of these findings that demand management policies and peak avoidance incentives would be more effective if they encourage both temporal and spatial flexibility for employees when partnering with regional employers.
Epidemiologic Burden of Skin Cancer in the US and Worldwide

Skin cancer is one of the leading causes of skin disease burden worldwide. This systematic review provides an overview of the United States (US) and global melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) epidemiologic studies published in the last 5 years. The incidence of melanoma and NMSC continues to rise both in the US and worldwide. The highest global age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) for melanoma were Australasia, North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Central Europe. Various results were reported for the mortality of skin cancer; however, overall, the mortality was higher in men than women and remained relatively stable. Notably, NMSC caused more deaths globally than melanoma, albeit at a slower rate. Epidemiologic studies on skin cancer provide the vital information needed to implement effective preventive efforts. Increased global skin cancer burden necessitates continued surveillance and production of accurate, high-quality NMSC and melanoma epidemiologic studies.
Modeling Information Pooling Bias in Incident Response Teams: An Agent Based Modeling Approach:

Security analysts regularly correlate disparate incidents to detect cyber-attacks. However, past research shows that team-based incident correlation analysis may be affected by information pooling ...
A united front: Coach and teammate motivational climate and team cohesion among female adolescent athletes:

Based on theory and research on athlete motivation and sport cohesion, this study examined the concurrent association of perceived coach and peer motivational climates with team cohesion among fema...
Proactive shuttle dispatching in large-scale dynamic dial-a-ride systems

Abstract The problem of dispatching shuttles to serve trip requests can be mathematically formulated as a dial-a-ride problem (DARP). With on-demand mobility services gaining more popularity due to the recent developments in the gig economy, communication technologies, and urbanization, the real-time application of DARP is attracting ever more interest. However, the fact that the size of DARP grows exponentially with number of requests and number of available seats renders the current solution methodologies inadequate for online applications. In order to tackle this issue, we propose a general framework that shifts much of the computational burden of the optimization problems that need to be solved into an offline phase, thereby addressing on-demand requests with fast and high-quality solutions in real time. Using numerical experiments, we demonstrate the benefits of the proposed method. Furthermore, we conduct sensitivity analyses to show the performance of our methodology under different parameter settings.
A regulatory circuit motif dictates whether protein turnover fluxes are more predictive as biomarkers than protein abundances

The identification of prognostic biomarkers fuels personalized medicine. Here we tested two underlying, but often overlooked assumptions: 1) measurements at the steady state are sufficient for predicting the response to drug action, and 2) specifically, measurements of molecule abundances are sufficient. It is not clear that these are justified, as 1) the response results from non-linear molecular relationships, and 2) the steady state is defined by both abundance and orthogonal flux information. An experimentally validated mathematical model of the cellular response to the anti-cancer agent TRAIL was our test case. We developed a mathematical representation in which abundances and fluxes (static and kinetic network features) are largely independent, and simulated heterogeneous drug responses. Machine learning revealed predictive power, but that kinetic, not static network features were most informative. Analytical treatment of the underlying network motif identified kinetic buffering as the relevant circuit design principle. Our work suggests that network topology considerations ought to guide biomarker discovery efforts.
Beyond Aesthetics: Four Concepts of Aesthetic Experience

INTRODUCTION A salient feature of critical practice over the last three decades has been an almost exclusive emphasis on interpretation as the primary mode of the analysis of artworks. Roughly put, the output of such analyses is a message – a set of propositions that the artwork is said to imply or to entertain, or a conceptual schema (e.g., an interpretation may disclose that in the world of a fiction women are all sorted into the categories of madonnas versus whores). These messages, then, are often further evaluated in terms of whether they are progressive or reactionary politically. This approach to criticism, moreover, contrasts with alternative views, such as the notion that what a critic does is to point to features of an artwork in order to elicit a certain kind of experience from the audience. For instance, the critic points to one part of a painting and then to another, foregrounding similarities, in order to enable the viewer to experience the unity of the painting; or the critic describes the dancer's movement in such a way that on subsequent evenings viewers are able to perceive its qualities of lightness or airiness. Whereas the output of interpretive criticism is a message, the output of what we might call demonstrative criticism is, ideally, the promotion of a certain kind of experience – what is generally called an aesthetic experience – in the audience. The point of demonstrative criticism is to call attention to the variables that make aesthetic experiences possible. The idea is that by encouraging audiences to dwell on certain features of the work in a certain way, audiences will undergo the relevant experiences.
Local-scale and watershed-scale determinants of summertime urban stream temperatures

The influence of urbanization on the temperature of small streams is widely recognized, but these effects are confounded by the great natural variety of their contributing watersheds. To evaluate the relative importance of local-scale and watershed-scale factors on summer temperatures in urban streams, hundreds of near-instantaneous temperature measurements throughout the central Puget Lowland, western Washington State, were collected during a single 2-h period in August in each of the years 1998–2001. Stream temperatures ranged from 8.9 to 27.5 °C, averaging 15.4 °C. Pairwise correlation coefficients between stream temperature and four watershed variables (total watershed area and the watershed percentages of urban development, upstream lakes, and permeable glacial outwash soils as an indicator of groundwater exchange) were uniformly very low. Akaike's information criterion was applied to determine the best-supported sets of watershed-scale predictor variables for explaining the variability of stream temperatures. For the full four-year dataset, the only well-supported model was the global model (using all watershed variables); for the most voluminous single-year (1999) data, Akaike's information criterion showed greatest support for per cent outwash (Akaike weight of 0.44), followed closely by per cent urban development + per cent outwash, per cent lake area only, and the global model. Upstream lakes resulted in downstream warming of up to 3 °C; variability in riparian shading imposed a similar temperature range. Watershed urbanization itself is not the most important determining factor for summer temperatures in this region; even the long-recognized effects of riparian shading can be no more influential than those imposed by other local-scale and watershed-scale factors. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KINETICS OF DRY RUPTURE OF BACTERIAL SPORES IN THE PRESENCE OF SALT

Sacks, L. E. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, Calif.), Peter B. Percell, Richard S. Thomas, and Glen F. Bailey. Kinetics of dry rupture of bacterial spores in the presence of salt. J. Bacteriol. 87: 952–960. 1964.—The kinetics of breaking spores in the dry state by use of an excess of sodium chloride and a steel ball in a shaking device were investigated. Under most conditions, disruption is a first-order process. The disruption-rate constant varies directly with the weight of the ball and inversely with the weight of the capsule contents (spores plus salt). Different spore batches differ somewhat in susceptibility to dry rupture. The dry-rupture process is highly reproducible and it is relatively simple to obtain preparations in which exactly 50%, or 90%, of the spores are broken. The procedure is uniquely suited to the disruption of small (5 to 20 mg) samples, but 150 mg of spores have been handled with conventional equipment. Apparently, the chief function of the salt is to separate the spores from one another with a relatively hard, energy-nonabsorbing matrix, preventing aggregation and consequent cushioning of the ball9s impact. However, under certain conditions (small ball, high salt, large crystals) appreciable breakage results from collisions of spores with the salt crystals. The minimal salt-spore ratio for efficient breakage depends on the spore batch, but is usually greater than 3:1. Fine glass beads or inorganic salts other than sodium chloride will also serve as the matrix. Electron micrographs of the spores in various stages of disruption are shown, as are electron micrographs of the spore coats of Bacillus macerans, B. megaterium, B. cereus, B. coagulans , and Clostridium bifermentans . Prolonged agitation disintegrates spore coats. The spore coats of B. macerans exhibit a characteristic ribbed structure, previously detected only by carbon replicas of intact spores. Possible application to other biological materials is considered. Images
Fast turnaround dedicated codes for tokamak magnetic field design

The author describes several codes which were developed to give extremely fast turnaround, first order results, and presentations of proposed magnetic configurations. Although the codes themselves use basic graphic techniques, least square solutions, and many other standardized routines for calculating magnetic fields and fluxes, their primary advantage is in the speed in which the requested design criteria can be analyzed and presented to the originator for further discussion or for use in reports and other presentations. Each code has simplified inputs, which allows the user to specify concisely what requirements are to be met in the output design. An example illustrating the use of the codes is provided. >
The MTX computer control system for the 400 kilowatt 140 GHz gyrotron

A 400-kW, 140-GHz gyrotron is used in the MTX (Microwave Tokamak Experiment) as a source of direct plasma heating and as a driver for a free electron laser, which is used for plasma heating. The control system that operates this gyrotron uses a new graphics-oriented software system called TACL (Thaumaturgic Automated Control Logic). This control language does not require a software specialist, but is easily handled by the engineer or technician working on the system. All control logic and custom displays are entered via graphics-oriented editors and no lines of code need to be written. The graphics displays make the gyrotron operation quite simple and allow individual users to define displays to meet their own needs or develop one for a specific set of tests to be run. The system can also be used for data logging functions, which have been found quite useful in tracking long-term trends in vacion current and calorimetry of gyrotron cooling circuits. The system is composed of one computer (HP 9000 series 300) controlling multiple CAMAC crates, located at the various components used in the system. A second series 300 computer is used as a supervisor and is located in the main tokamak control room. >